Contract Details:
Signed a one-year, $1 million contract on December 21, 2005.

2006: $1,000,000

*The Cardinals gave Ponson a full no-trade clause with the chance to earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses. He would earn $300,000 each for 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32 starts.

Became a Cardinal:
Signed as a previously released free agent on December 21, 2005.

2005 Season:
Ponson went 7-11 with a 6.21 ERA in 23 starts for the Orioles last season before being released on September 1. His contract which had $11 million remaining on it was terminated by the Orioles, who said that Ponson's conduct and problems with alcohol the past nine months gave them grounds to do so. Ponson began the season by winning five of his first six decisions and worked six or more innings in 12 of his first 16 starts before encountering a second-half slide.

Career Notes:
Signed out of Aruba at the age of 16 in 1993 by the Orioles, Ponson made it to the majors with Baltimore in 1998. In a 2003 deadline deal, Ponson was traded to the San Francisco Giants for Kurt Ainsworth, Damian Moss, and Ryan Hannaman. He returned to Baltimore, however, in 2004, signing a three-year, $22.5 million deal with Orioles as a free agent. Ponson was charged in January, 2005, with driving under the influence in Florida, and he spent 11 days in an Aruban jail after he hit a judge during a Christmas Day, 2004, fight at a beach in his home country. He was sentenced to five days in jail (December 13-17) on December 12, after being convicted of driving while impaired on August 25, on Interstate 95 in Baltimore.

Ponson owns a career mark of 76-91 with a 4.81 ERA in 233 games. His 28 complete games since 1999 rank fourth among all active pitchers in that seven-year span. He is ranked among the Orioles top-10 in innings pitched (1375-1/3) and strikeouts (836) and he stands 12th in wins (73). He has worked over 200 innings in a single season on four occasions (1999-2000, 2003-2004) and he posted double-digit victory totals in 1999 (12 wins), 2003 (17) and 2004 (11).

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