John Smoltz likely coming in

Jayson Stark of ESPN is reporting that Smoltz is "strongly leaning" toward coming to St. Louis, even after the Cards expressed interest in putting him in late-inning bullpen situations. Smoltz started 8 games for the Red Sox, posting an ERA over 8, but in his last 7 outings, his ERA in the first two innings was 0.64. This shows that he could be very effective to come in and face righties out of the bullpen for an inning. If he could consistently get outs in that capacity, it would shore up one of the Cards' only remaining weaknesses.