Cardinals Trade Idea of the Day
With the trade deadline only about 10 days away…I am going to start doing a “Trade of the Day” for the St. Louis Cardinals. Some of them may be ones that I heard or read as rumors, or they possibly could be my own thoughts…and even though it may never go down…it is fun to talk/comment about. So…here we go…
We have all heard the Colby Rasmus rumors, but a lot of them have/had Colby heading to Tampa Bay for Rays Rookie of the Year candidate Jeremy Hellickson. I will say this right now to Cardinals GM John Mozeliak…do it right now…even if St. Louis needs to throw in a mid level prospect…DO IT right now! I have seen Hellickson pitch live numerous times now – and the kid is filthy, has great control of his secondary pitches and has plenty of poise on the mound even when he is going through a rough patch of an inning.
But, why not try to go a step further and trade for Rays starting pitcher James Shields. The Rays need offense of any kind and I think this deal could help them. The Rays still like/want Rasmus and I think Cardinals fans agree – our fear is Colby will finally figure it out if he is shipped somewhere else. Well, I agree with that – I honestly feel Tony Larussa has messed the kid up mentally and physically and until Colby gets out of St. Louis or until Tony Larussa leaves the organization (I would pay money out of my own pocket to make this happen if I hit the Powerball tomorrow night) Rasmus’ career will continue to disappoint. But in Tampa, with Rays Manager Joe Maddon, Rasmus will become the player fans all thought he could be. Maddon supports his players in the good times and the bad and does not mess with young players heads.
The Rays are still in the AL East race which is absolutely incredible considering the Boston Red Sox payroll is 4 times the amount of the Rays and the New York Yankees payroll is 5 times the amount. But they are hanging tough and play a ton of games in the next 20 days against the Seattle Mariners, the Oakland A’s and the Kansas City Royals. From today through August 11th – the Rays are only playing these 3 teams and a 3 game series versus the Toronto Blue Jays. Talk about having a chance to make a run.
But, at the same time, they are always looking to cut payroll. So, with that said, what if the Cardinals and Rays do this trade:
The Rays send
James Shields 9-8 with 17 Quality starts, an ERA of 2.53 and 7 complete games
The Cardinals send
Colby Rasmus
Skip Schumaker
Jordan Swagerty & John Gast (both mid level pitching prospects)
The Rays get what they want a impact bat, which Rasmus will be, Skip Schumaker upgrades their offense at 2nd base as well, plus they also get two pitching prospects – and the Rays LOVE prospects.
The Cardinals get Shields. Shields salary is more than reasonable for the next 3 years…$7 Million in 2012, $9 Million in 2013 & $13 Million in 2014. More than reasonable for an ace…and if Shields goes from the AL East to the NL Central…his numbers will improve that much more. Plus, as deep as Shields goes in games, he will help the bullpen get some rest (but does that really matter)??? And with Shields in the fold for the next 3 years…he doesn’t help the Cardinals in just 2011…he is added to a healthy Adam Wainwright next year and hopefully a Hellickson like rookie year from Shelby Miller (the #3 overall prospect in the minors and #2 ranked pitching prospect per ESPN’s Keith Law). And by the last year of Shields deal, Carlos Martinez (#4 overall prospect in the minors & the #3 overall pitching prospect per Law) should be in the Cardinals rotation.
So what do you think Cardinals fans – let us know your thoughts in the comment section of this post!
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11 Rants to “Cardinals Trade Idea of the Day”
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sheilds yeah that would be nice but how about David Price
I would love Price, but I can tell you he is as untouchable as anyone in Major League Baseball. The Cards would have a better shot at Longoria than Price. How good would Longo look in the middle of the Birds lineup?
what about the assets from the cardinals but include hellickson with sheilds going to the cards
I think the Rays would never give up both Shields and Hellickson…if that would be the case…the Cards would have to give up Shelby Miller or Carlos Martinez and I know for a fact those guys are going nowhere. I love the idea though…
i wouldnt think they would but other than miller and martinez we have freese as our every day third baseman so what about zach cox added into the mix
I would do the other way…if adding David Freese to the deal gets us Hellickson…do it RIGHT NOW! How many games a year has Freese been healthy for early in his career??? Not a good sign as he gets older by the day. The only bad….the Rays have some guy named Longoria entrenched at 3B for the next 4 years…but I have always thought because of Freese’s lack of power – he would be a perfect 2nd Baseman…and the Rays need ANY kind of offense possible!
well i would hate to see two proven weapons (when healthy) go but with cox and matt carpenter coming up it would be easier to swallow knowing that we get two high end starters to add immediately which would give us the same problem the phillies currently have… who is our ace
now i am really going to stretch it i know but what about since we are giving up 3 additions to there offense they give one back in B.J upton… that would be possibly the greatest deal for the cardinals if they somehow pulled that off
I agree Larussa must go and soon BEST OVER MANAGER IN BASBALL