St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak says there is more momentum for the use of the designated in the National League. From Derrick Goold's story:

An annual question Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak faces from the fans at Winter Warm-Up is whether the designated hitter is about to intrude on the National League. He usually dismisses the notion as a "non-starter," and his answer hadn't changed in his nine previous Warm-Ups as GM.

It did Saturday.

He said there's "more momentum" for the DH in the NL.

"I do feel like there were times I could look all of you in the face and say it's a non-starter, it's not being discussed at the owner level or GM," Mozeliak said Saturday during an expansive discussion with the media at the team's 20th annual fanfest. "But over the past year it has. I'm not suggesting you're going to see a change but I definitely think the momentum (has changed)."

Mozeliak's comments echo similar ones made this past spring by Major League Baseball Players Association chief Tony Clark, who said he has heard more discussion about the DH spreading to the NL than in years past. The chatter comes at an opportune time for DH advocates as baseball enters the final year of its current collective bargaining agreement between owners and players. Negotiations on a new deal will thread through this season, as the current CBA is set to expire in December.

I've heard similar words from other executives, and keep in mind that Mozeliak has been in the game a long time and has attended many meetings of his peers, and that his boss, Bill DeWitt Jr., is regarded as one of MLB's most powerful figures.

Maybe the DH is inevitable, in a time when there is so much effort made to maximize value, and to protect value. This is why teams roundly supported the rule change on home-plate collisions, and why MLB is working to make slides into second base less treacherous for middle infielders. Teams are spending more money than ever on players and they want to keep them on the field, and for National League teams, the designated hitter would be a way to better cope with nagging injuries as well as steer around the handful of times each season a pitcher gets hurt while taking an at-bat or running the bases, such as when Adam Wainwright blew out his Achilles tendon last spring.

Adding a designated hitter would better facilitate the trend toward more and more use of relief pitchers for NL teams, and make it easier to carry an extra bullpen arm. Without the DH, NL clubs must account for two or three possible situations in each game in which they might need a pinch hitter.

But if the NL adds a DH spot, they could more easily get by with 12 position players on a given day: eight position players, the DH, a backup catcher, an extra infielder and an extra outfielder. Major League Baseball might prefer to do this rather than consider the route of adding one or two spots to the current 25-man roster.

Whatever the reasons, I hate the thought of a National League with the designated hitter.

I love the added layers of strategy in the NL games, with the managers forced to adeptly anticipate when they'll need a reliever, or assess when to use their best pinch hitter. I love how the NL lineups, with the pitcher's spot looming, creates more opportunity for thought for managers, pitchers and catchers as they try to figure out a way to get through a crisis. It's fun watching Jake Arrieta bat, and Madison Bumgarner -- and even Bartolo Colon.

I understand why the DH in the NL is probably inevitable at this point, and how it could mean more at-bats for the likes of Buster Posey or Adrian Gonzalez at the end of their careers. I understand how a semi-day off at DH for someone like David Wright could be beneficial to the sport, and for him.

But I can't stand the thought of sacrificing some of the chess match that you can find in every NL game.

Royals ink Kennedy

Some evaluators and agents thought that Ian Kennedy's best chance for a good deal might be to wait until after Opening Day, to separate himself from draft-pick compensation. As such, many in the industry were surprised when Kennedy and agent Scott Boras landed a five-year, $70 million deal with the Kansas City Royals. Sources say the Royals made the move for the reasons below (among others):

No. 1: The free-agent market for starting pitchers is expected to be incredibly thin after the 2016 season; if evaluators' forecasts are correct, only a handful of attractive pitchers will be drawing a lot of attention -- which would not be a good bidding situation for the Royals. Kansas City has grabbed second- and third-tier starters in recent offseasons, from Jeremy Guthrie to Jason Vargas to Edinson Volquez, and the next two winters, even that type of pitcher might not be available to them.

So the Royals decided to move pre-emptively. In effect, they're paying a little more now to grab the kind of free agent they have a shot with in Kennedy, for at least two years. After 2017, the right-hander can opt out of his contract.

No. 2: The Royals like Kennedy's durability, and they need it. He has had four seasons of at least 194 innings, and K.C. is confident he'll be able to steadily provide innings.

No. 3: Kansas City has long seen him as a nice fit for its team because of his shared history with pitching coach Dave Eiland, when both were with the Yankees, and because he could take advantage of the club's strong outfield defense and spacious home ballpark.

No. 4: The Royals are in win-now mode. They know they have two more years with Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain, at least, and they're doing what they can to take advantage of this window. That's why they extended Alex Gordon, with a contract structure that enhanced their payroll flexibility for 2016 and 2017, and why they're going after Kennedy now.

The Kennedy signing could push Danny Duffy to the K.C. bullpen. The Royals' starters: Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Kris Medlen, Duffy, Kennedy and Chris Young.

The important stuff of the Kennedy deal is underneath the surface, writes Sam Mellinger. Here's some stuff to know about Kennedy, from the Kansas City Star.

Orioles, Davis finally come together

With $42 million of Chris Davis' $161 million deal with the Orioles deferred with no interest, the management valuation of the contract is a present-day value of $127.5 million.

The contract is a big win-win for both sides: In a winter in which the perceived value of high-strikeout, big-power hitters is seemingly diminished -- Chris Carter and Pedro Alvarez were simply cut by their teams -- Davis' contract is a very good deal, relative to the current market. Davis didn't get the sort of attention he might've hoped for from the Giants or the Cardinals, and accomplished corner outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton are still looking for work and might not come close to getting a Davis-level contract this winter.

Davis gets to stay in a place where he's comfortable, where he has thrived, and the Orioles keep a lineup anchor who, as a left-handed hitter, gives them some desperately needed balance.

The Orioles are no longer interested in signing Cespedes, but they theoretically have the positional flexibility to now sign the left-handed-hitting Pedro Alvarez. That said, with Mark Trumbo, Davis and Matt Wieters on their roster, Baltimore might prefer to treat the DH as a spot in which a number of different players could be used.

The Davis deal comes right at the moment the Orioles had seriously started to look at alternatives, writes Eduardo Encina. The Orioles needed him back, Zach Britton said.

Notables

• The Davis deal keeps Yoenis Cespedes in play for the Mets, writes David Waldstein. With the price tag falling, the Mets must find a way to sign Cespedes, writes John Harper. The Mets are lurking, writes Kevin Kernan.

It has been apparent for weeks that the Mets are comfortable with Cespedes signing elsewhere; they're content with the team they've assembled. But the Mets tend to react a lot to public pressure, and the pressure in New York for them to re-sign Cespedes is intensifying.

• Friday games at Wrigley Field will start when Cubs manager Joe Maddon would like.

• A Cubs co-owner said some things about the Mets.

Moves, deals and decisions

1. The Pirates got all seven of their arbitration-eligible players signed.

2. Starting pitcher Jake Arrieta didn't settle with the Cubs.

3. Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe is headed to arbitration.

4. The Indians worked out a bunch of negotiations.

5. The Astros are going to arbitration.

6. The Blue Jays are likely headed to arbitration with third baseman Josh Donaldson.

7. The A.J. Pollock talks are on hold in Arizona.

8. Brandon Belt and the Giants are far from each other in terms of arbitration figures.

9. The Angels signed pitcher Al Alburquerque.

NL Central

• Addison Russell is ready for more, writes Jesse Rogers.

• Ray Searage has been a wizard for the Pirates, writes Rob Biertempfel.

• The Cubs are looking to close a couple of streets on game days.

• The Cardinals are looking to improve from within. From Derrick Goold's piece:

Mozeliak is intent at seeing what Brandon Moss, Stephen Piscotty, Randal Grichuk, and Matt Adams can offer before going shopping.

"That's the bet I'm making," Mozeliak told fans.

He elaborated later when discussing the same topic with the media: "Sure. Look. Baseball's simple. You have to score runs to win. You have to score one, right? Preventing runs is something we focus on, but producing runs is also something we have to focus on. If the trend line continues, it's not a good trend. It's not healthy for our future. We would certainly have to address it. … You're going to see a natural decline, but we need to stop ours."

Thanks in large part to the power spike from leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter -- who led the Cardinals in homers and RBIs -- the club saw a bounce from 105 homers in 2014 to 137 in 2015. That spike helped record-setting pitching push the team to 100 wins and a third consecutive division championship. But just as the team's historically good .330 average with runners in scoring position in 2013 masked offensive warning signs, this past year's historically good pitching hid the continued erosion of offense. The Cardinals have slid from third in on-base percentage to 13th in three seasons, and their slugging percentage has dropped from .401 (12th) in 2013 to .716 (19th) in 2015.

• The Cardinals are looking for more power from Adams and Moss.

NL West

• The Padres will start their games later on Fridays and Saturdays.

• The Padres are now lined up to pick eighth and 26th in the 2016 draft, writes Dennis Lin.

• The Rockies are facing major issues, writes Patrick Saunders.

AL East

• MLB should help pay for a new stadium for the Rays, writes Joe Henderson.

• Brendan Kennedy has a wide-ranging interview with Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro.

• Shapiro has been getting help from Paul Beeston.

• The free-agent market may be working in the Rays' favor, writes Marc Topkin.

AL Central

• Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander is enjoying a normal offseason, writes Anthony Fenech.

• Detroit's winter caravan will make 30 stops.

• Twins manager Paul Molitor learned a lot last year, writes La Velle Neal.

• Terry Pluto writes about Indians first baseman Jesus Aguilar.

AL West

• Gerry Fraley writes about the Rangers and Justin Upton.

Lastly

• We'll wrap up the top 10 team-unit rankings series in the next few days. Next up: top 10 defenses.

• Vanderbilt thumped Alabama.

• Baseball fans have already won in an MLB TV dispute, writes Larry Neumeister.

• Scouting in Canada has taken a hit.

• Hank Aaron was honored in Japan.

• Nick Cafardo writes about the concept of a shorter season.

• Angels manager Mike Scioscia discussed injury prevention at a Long Island high school.

• Chris Mortensen has earned the army of supporters he has behind him as he begins treatment for cancer, because of the way he has always treated others.

And today will be better than yesterday.