The St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and Cleveland Indians got together on Saturday and made a nice three team trade that I believe benefited all three teams.
Let’s see what each team got in the trade…
Cardinals receive Jake Westbrook
With the uncertainty surrounding Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse, the Cardinals needed another starter to go along with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Westbrook fits exactly what the Cardinals needed to a tee.
Pitching coach Dave Duncan likes guys who throw groundballs and pound the strike zone. Westbrook certainly does that. He has a groundball rate of 53 percent.
I would imagine if the Cardinals fend off the Cincinnati Reds and make the playoffs, Westbrook would be their Game Three starter and Jaime Garcia would slide into the Game Four spot.
Greenwood was a 14th round pick of the Padres in the 2009 Draft and posted a 4.15 ERA in 95.1 IP for Single-A Fort Wayne this season.
Padres receive Ryan Ludwick and minor leaguer Nick Greenwood
The Cardinals must really like Jon Jay in order to part with Ludwick. Ludwick is a solid player who has always produced since coming over to the Cardinals in 2007. Now he will go to San Diego, a team that really could use his services.
Padre right fielders rank 11th in the NL with a .758 OPS. Ludwick will certainly help improve that. Ludwick put up a .281/.343/.484 hitting line with 11 HR in 281 ABs for the Cardinals.
He should fit in nicely behind Adrian Gonzalez in the Padres lineup and will be under the Padres’ control for 2011 as well.
Indians receive Corey Kluber
Kluber was a fourth round pick of the Padres in the 2007 draft and has shown tremendous ability to strike people out in four seasons in the minor leagues. Over the course of four seasons, Kluber has a 9.5 K/9 rate, mostly as a starter.
This year, Kluber has a 3.45 ERA and 136 K’s in 122.2 innings for Double-A San Antonio.
I really like this deal for all three parties involved. The Cardinals get their No.3/No.4 starter they needed, the Padres get the outfield bat they so desperately needed, and the Indians continue to trade away assets and get decent value in return.
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