The St. Louis Cardinals got some protection for Super Star Albert Pujols by trading for Of Matt Holliday. This was a vital pice for the Cards as they are locked in a divisional race with both the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros. Currently The Cardinals lead these two teams by 1.5 games in the National League Central division.
Now let us take a look at the details of this trade:
The Cardinals get Matt Holliday and 1.5 million dollars towards the six million is is owed over the balance of the 2009 season.
The Oakland A’s get third base prospect Brett Wallace, considered to be among the best infield prospects in baseball. Wallace is a pure hitter who can bat for power and for average. Really he is the perfect guy for A’s GM Billy Beane’s “Money Ball” approach to building a team.
The A’s also picked up Minor League pitching prospect Clayton Mortensen, and minor league OF Shane Peterson. While this move may look like a salary dump by Oakland, it really is a move to add a nice piece for the future. While they A’s were busy in the offseason signing guys like Holliday for 13.5 million dollars, players like Wallace more fit in with the culture of that club.
Since Oakland is a “Small Market” team looking to get a new stadium built one would think they would want to keep a few name players to help draw fans, but that is just not how Beane views the game of baseball. He wants guys who hit for average and have a high on base percentage, Wallace is both of those things.
For the Cardinals they get a batter who can hit behind Pujols and hopefully et him a few more quality pitches in each trip to the plate. While this is a good move fro them, it may not be the move the turns them into 2009 divisional Champions, of course that remains to be seen.
