ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals signed last season's top starter Kent Bottenfield, a surprise 18-game winner, to a $4 million, one-year contract Tuesday.

	Bottenfield

They also signed pitchers Alan Benes and Mike Mohler to one-year deals. All three were eligible for salary arbitration.

The Cardinals had been talking about a multiyear deal with Bottenfield since the end of the season. Bottenfield earned $825,000 last year.

The 31-year-old right-hander was 18-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 190 1/3 innings last year.

The Benes brothers will be reunited this coming season under Tuesday's moves. Alan Benes agreed to a deal that will pay him $550,000 -- the same as last year. But he can earn another $150,000 if he makes it 150 days without going on the DL, in addition to $850,000 in bonuses based on appearances.

Benes, who turns 28 on Friday, missed more than two years with shoulder injuries. The right-hander had a pair of one-inning relief stints last September.

Older brother Andy Benes, 32, agreed to an $18 million, three-year free-agent contract earlier this month. He left the Cardinals as a free agent after 1997 for the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks when general manager Walt Jocketty and Benes' agent agreed to a five-year deal about 1½ hours after the Dec. 7 deadline for players to re-sign. The contract was rejected by the commissioner's office.

Mohler will earn $690,000 under his new deal, of which $265,000 is guaranteed. He made $490,000 last season.

Mohler, a 31-year-old left-hander, was 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA in 49 1/3 innings last year.