Deep in his latest column, Phil Rogers plants this little tidbit:

St. Louis is offering shortstop Edgar Renteria a four-year, $32 million contract, which is back-loaded. It's unclear if that will be enough for the Cardinals to retain him.

A little while ago, Christian estimated Renteria’s pricetag at around 3 years/$25M, and that strikes me as about what the market should bear. The Cardinals’ reported offer is in the same ballpark in yearly money, but it tacks on an extra year and ups the total value by $7M. Not unreasonable, but certainly in the upper reaches of reason.

Of course, reason hasn’t been a part of the equation with this offseason’s shortstop signings. If the offer is truly on the table – and with Rogers, I’d encourage liberal salt usage – then it should be enough to do the job. If it’s not, I pity the team that tops that deal, while I say my prayers that Jim Hendry isn’t the man with the contract in hand.