TAMPA, Fla. -- After a series of spring meetings in which he had to inform players that their time in Major League camp had ended, manager Mike Matheny welcomed a change in message on Wednesday.
Before the team began its cross-state bus ride, Matheny summoned into his office 24-year-old Matt Bowman, a Rule 5 pick who had spent the past several days unsure if each would be his last in the organization. Now, Matheny and general manager John Mozeliak could finally offer him a destination: St. Louis.
"I just couldn't believe it," Bowman said before the Cardinals' spring finale on Thursday.