After working out for six teams and shopping a bit around the major leagues to gauge interest, Troy Percival signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday.  Perhaps an air of familiarity influenced his decision.  Several of his former Angels teammates - Jim Edmonds, Adam Kennedy, David Eckstein, and Scott Spiezio - are currently on the Cardinals' roster.

Percival will initially report to Triple-A Memphis and pitch in a few games before the team decides if he's ready to be called up.  Tony La Russa, however, seems confident he'll be able to set up for Jason Isringhausen.

Interestingly, the Cardinals were not among the teams who attended Percival's workout this past week.

Why not the Tigers?  Besides the fact that most of his stuff from his Angels days probably matches the Cardinals' color scheme?  Percival's agent, Paul Cohen, chalked it up to... karma?

Percival might want to hope John Lennon was wrong about instant karma.  But we all shine on.

By the way, the Phillies were one of the teams that Percival passed on.  So Philadelphia will fill that open bullpen spot with Jose Mesa.  I can't wait to see how those Philly fans feel about him.