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ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Cardinals signed free-agent second baseman Mark Ellis to a one-year, $5.25 million contract, giving them insurance for rookie Kolten Wong. In a conference call after the deal was announced Monday, the 36-year-old Ellis said he had some multiyear offers but chose the Cardinals because he wants to win a World Series. Ellis played for the Dodgers in the NL championship series last fall against St. Louis, which won the Series in 2011 and lost in six games to the Red Sox in 2013. "I am fully fine with one-year deals at this point in my career," Ellis said. "There were some good opportunities, very good teams and very good organizations. I felt like this was the perfect place for myself and my family." The contract calls for an additional $125,000 at 250 plate appearances and for every 25 plate appearances after that up to 475 plate appearances. "Nothing was promised," Ellis said. "Ive pretty much been an everyday player my whole career. Im going to prepare this off-season like Im going to play 162 games." Ellis is a lifetime .265 hitter for three teams. He hit .270 with six home runs and 48 RBIs for the Dodgers last season, and is considered a strong defensive second baseman. Hes had only spot duty at other infield positions during his career, but was open to that option, noting he played third base two years in college and was a shortstop growing up. "Im not so stubborn I have a huge ego that I have to be the second baseman," Ellis said. "I dont care. I want to do whatever it takes to win a World Series." Wong, a first-round pick in 2011, made his major league debut last year and is expected to get the starting shot at second base in 2014. Matt Carpenter moves to third base following the trade of David Freese to the Angels and Ellis provides a right-handed hitting option, plus hes open to a mentor role. Before learning of Carpenters position switch, Ellis hadnt thought the Cardinals would be a good fit. "Mark is a player we identified early-on as being an ideal fit for our team," general manager John Mozeliak said in a statement. "His experience and steadiness, both in the field and at the plate, certainly enhances our overall roster makeup." Ellis has appeared in 22 post-season games and batted .240 in the NLCS last fall with a double, triple and stolen base. Ellis has hit 20 or more doubles nine of the past 10 years and is a career .276 hitter with a .348 on-base percentage against left-handed pitching. He was a ninth round pick of the Kansas City Royals in 1999. cheap nfl jerseys . "Another turnover," deadpanned Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. Its easy to make jokes after a win, and Boeheims latest wisecrack followed the fifth-ranked Oranges 69-63 victory over Stanford on Friday night in the championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden. cheap jerseys .com) - Florida has ascended to the top spot in the mens college basketball rankings, ending Syracuses three-week reign at the top of the Associated Press poll. http://www.wholesalechinatmall.com/. The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. cheap jerseys from china . It begins with starting pitching. "We have the talent," said Anthopoulos. "Last offseason because guys were hurt, we didnt have the bodies. wholesale nfl jerseys . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace.The Indiana Pacers remain at the top of the TSN.ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers. A few injuries, and a couple of losses in New York, knock the defending-champion Miami Heat down to fourth. The Memphis Grizzlies have won three in a row and got centre Marc Gasol back from injury, earning a move up from 17 to 12. A five-game winning streak, halted Tuesday in Charlotte, bumped the New York Knicks from 24 to 19 and the Nets also had a five-game winning streak snapped, but it was enough to go from 25 to 21. The New York teams are battling their way up afterr terrible starts to the season.dddddddddddd Hanging around the middle of the pack, the Washington Wizards lose some ground, going from 12 to 16, while the New Orleans Pelicans, decimated by injuries, fall from 11 to 24. The Philadelphia 76ers, losers of four straight, drop from 18 to 25. The Toronto Raptors continue on their upward trend, from 10 to nine, as they continue to play well, winning eight of the past 10 games. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '