"With the deadline approaching to offer him a contract for 2012, the St. Louis Cardinals and utility fielder Skip Schumaker are close to completing a two-year deal, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.

The deal would give Schumaker security for two years in exchange for one year of his free agency.

Schumaker, the Cardinals' regular second baseman who started World Series Game 7 in center field, will return to the only team he's known instead of facing arbitration or being set loose into free agency."