Cardinals 2008 Trade Review

[Astros]

Since Z did this and I'm bored, I'm going to steal his idea. Won't be near as long as Z's because I doubt I made 10 trades all year.

Pirates trade Yusmeiro Petit to Cardinals for Tony Gwynn

Comment: This was a throw away deal for me at the time as I had a bunch of spare OF and wanted some relief depth. Petit ended up being my 5th starter and leading the team in wins as well as having a very good year in real life.

Cardinals trade John Lackey to Giants for Joseph 6-Smith, Zack Greinke, Rafael Furcal

Comment: This was huge for me. With Lackey being out at the beginning of the year I was looking at Suppan and his 5+ ERA projection in the rotation. Greinke had a nice year for me, throwing over 200 innings and putting up another good year in KC. Smith disappointed out of my pen, walking a ton of guys but did good in the stretch. Furcal was horrible his first month and a half for me, was out for me until the 1 game playoff with Brandon and hit a walkoff grand slam. Sets me up great for the future.

Rays trade Al Reyes to Cardinals for Eulogio De La Cruz.

Comment: This was when I was doing closer by committee and brought in Reyes to be my 8th inning guy. His ERA was almost 6 in 24 1/3 innings for me. De La Cruz didn't exactly tear up the majors either and Reyes could still be useful next year so I'll call it a push for now, with Pat T more than likely winning out in the future

Angels trade
Cliff Lee, Brendan Ryan to Cardinals for
Carlos 0-Carrasco, Sean Rodriguez, Jeremy Sowers

Comment: Lee is probably the AL Cy Young winner and threw 44 innings for me, winning 5 games. Ryan isn't any good, but he's a scrappy white Cardinal so I like him regardless. Sowers is nothing more than a #5. Rodriguez didn't do too hot in the bigs this year, but I still think he'll end up being a good ballplayer, maybe a super sub that starts 2 or 3 days a week. Carrasco is the next Phillies stud, so if he comes through like he should, Dave ain't coming out too bad on this one.

Orioles trade
Adam Wainwright, Chris Perez to Cardinals for Roy Oswalt

Comment: Roy Oswalt, despite being traded in early June, ended up being the 3rd winningest pitch on my team. This was when he was getting lit up every night and people were wondering what was wrong with him. He turned it around though. Wainwright's a stud and Perez should be the Cards closer of the future. Too good of a deal to pass up

Rays trade Brock 7-Huntzinger, John Lannan, Billy Butler, Todd Wellemeyer to Cardinals for
Gerardo Parra, Carlos Guillen, Scott Rolen, Adam 6-Ottavino

Comment: A big win for me. Guillen and Rolen are on the downside of their careers. Parra is a good prospect and Ottavino had a bump in the road this year and could go either way at this point. Huntzinger's a nice prospect. Lannan and Wellemeyer will be part of the rotation next year and Wellemeyer helped get me into the playoffs this year. Billy Butler is only 22 and while his future is at DH, he should hold down the fort until Freddie Freeman is ready. He also was very good for me, hitting .380 against lefties.

Mets trade
Matt Capps to Cardinals for Jared Burton, Max Ramirez

Comment: After watching my pen blow a ton of games, I saw my playoff chances slipping away without a real closer, so I dealt Burton, a personal favorite of mine, and Max for Capps, solving my closer problem. Of course, Capps went on the DL for 2 months as soon as I got him. But I have a real live closer for next year

Cardinals trade
Andrew 7-Cumberland to Astros for D'Angelo Jimenez

Comment: I was going for it and thought Jimenez would solve my gaping hole at 2nd. He turned out to be another guy I plugged in and a pinch hitter. Cumberland's a ways off but is a nice prospect. Not a deal I regret

Cardinals trade
Brett 7-Zawacki to Dodgers for Rajai Davis

Comment: Davis hit .311 in 41 at bats and scored 11 runs while starting in CF for me against lefties in September. Zawacki was going to be released when the season was over. No complaints here, thanks Shawn!