Cards take a pass on Vina

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals declined to exercise a $4.5 million club option on second baseman Fernando Vina on Monday, continuing an offseason shakeup after a third-place finish in the NL Central.

The Cardinals bought out Vina's contract for $1 million, spokesman Brian Bartow said.

The Cardinals also Monday declined options on two pitchers -- right-hander Chris Carpenter and left-hander Jeff Fassero. Last week, they declined the option on left-hander Sterling Hitchcock. All four players filed to become free agents.

The Cardinals' rotation is cloudy behind Woody Williams and Matt Morris. The moves could help free up money since owners have already told general manager Walt Jocketty that the $80 million budget for player salaries won't be increased and Albert Pujols, an MVP candidate, is due for a big raise in arbitration.

Vina, 34, missed much of last season with a hamstring injury. He hit .251 in 61 games with an on-base percentage of .309, considered low for a leadoff man.

Vina played on three playoff teams in St. Louis from 2000-2002, including two appearances in the NLCS.

He hit .300 in 2000 and .303 in 2001 and won Gold Gloves in 2001 and 2002. And his strikeouts-to-at-bats ratio is among the lowest in baseball. In 4,125 career at-bats, Vina has struck out 283 times, or once every 14.6 at-bats.

Rookie Bo Hart played respectably in Vina's absence, hitting .277 with four homers and 28 RBIs and making just four errors in 77 games.

Fassero, 40, was 1-7 with a 5.68 earned run average over 77 2/3 innings in 62 games last season, allowing 17 home runs and 49 earned runs on 93 hits. He struck out 55, walked 34 and had three saves in six opportunities.

In declining the option, the Cardinals paid Fassero a $250,000 buyout.

The Cardinals signed Carpenter in December, hoping he would recover by from surgery for elbow tendinitis that forced him to miss all of the 2002 season. But he didn't play a game. He would have been paid $2 million in 2004. Instead, he gets a $200,000 buyout.

Carpenter last pitched for Toronto in 2001, going 4-5 with a 5.28 ERA.