According to Marlon A. Walker of the Post-Dispatch, a man in St. Louis was arrested this summer for attempting to cash a $2,000 check on a Regions Bank account belonging to left-handed reliever Brian Tallet and his wife Natalie.
Tallet posted a rough 8.31 ERA and 10/7 K/BB ratio in 13 1/3 innings for the Cardinals this past season before being shipped to Toronto in a late-July trade involving young center fielder Colby Rasmus.
The man, a 21-year-old James Deal Cole, was charged with one count of forgery. Here’s more from the Post-Dispatch:
Cole told authorities he had been approached by a man in a landscaping company truck while begging for money in St. Louis. The man, who Cole said identified himself as Brian Tallet, wrote Cole a check and offered him a job doing some landscaping work over the summer. Cole said the man wrote a $2,000 check, telling Cole to keep $1,500 and give the other $500 back.
Brian Tallet, who finished the 2011 season in Toronto and is now a free agent, told authorities he never met Cole, nor did he hire the man for work.
Poor effort, fellas. Tallet, 34, is a free agent this winter. He’s likely seeking a minor league contract.
