The idea for this post was suggested to me by Mr. Josh Taylor. Thanks for the suggestion. This is how I was hoping this blog would work.
On July 31, baseball's trade deadline, the St. Louis Cardinals made a trade with the Boston Red Sox, giving up pitcher Joe Kelly and 1st Baseman/Outfielder Allen Craig in return for pitcher John Lackey and minor league pitcher Corey Littrell. This trade has been quite controversial in the eyes of many Cardinal fans. Craig and Kelly were fan favorites, many wanted to see Craig play through his struggles to get back to his all-star capability and some think the Cardinals did not get enough in return. I spent much of the day mulling the trade over in my mind and listening to what others had to say about the deal. Here is what I have concluded at this point about the trade.
This might not be a popular stance, but I have been in favor of trading Craig. Don't get me wrong, Craig is one of my favorite players and it really pains me to see him go (especially to Boston), but, put simply, he was not producing. As of July 31 Craig was batting .237 with 7 home runs and 44 RBIs. Those are not good numbers for someone who was supposed to be one of the Cardinals key producers this year. Yes, sometimes guys just have bad years and you have to be patient with them. But I'm not sure if that is the situation with Craig. Craig injured his foot the last month of the year last year and reinjured it during the World Series. For a batter, having a solid foundation is key. So if he isn't healthy, he might not get back to where he was. Plus the Cardinals could not afford to keep waiting on him with prospect Oscar Taveras waiting for an opportunity to play. Yes, he has not done well so far this year, but he has not been given any consistent playing time. In order to see if he is going to produce or not, he needs to be given a chance to show it and that was not going to happen with Craig in front of him.
The second piece was Joe Kelly. Also with Kelly, I am very sad to see him go. I think he was a very underrated pitcher and was a great, fun personality to have on the team. However, one thing against him is that he has never been able to go consistently deep into games, and on a staff right now that needs more innings from its starters in order for the bullpen to not get overworked, Kelly was not doing that. And also with Kelly, I am not convinced he is healthy. Kelly missed 3 months this year with a hamstring injury. That is far too long to miss with a hamstring injury. He was only expected to miss 2 weeks. Since returning from that injury, Kelly was struggling. Thus far this year, he was 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA. Basically, there is a very good chance the Red Sox are getting damaged goods in this trade.
Now for the return. The key player coming to St. Louis is John Lackey. This year, Lackey is 11-7 with a 3.60 ERA and has been known throughout his career as a big game pitcher. Some Cardinals fans might remember that he was the winning pitcher in the clinching game of last year's World Series. The same was true for the 2002 World Series. Also, moving from the American League to the National League should benefit him as it is more difficult to pitch it the AL because of the DH. Also he has an option for $500,000 for next year which, unless he retires, he says he will honor. So the Cardinals are getting a solid pitcher, who will provide innings, knows how to pitch in big games and would be a cheap player for next year.
The other player the Cardinals are getting in return is minor league left-handed starter Corey Littrell. Littrell was drafted in the 5th round last year and is currently in high-A ball. It was a while after the trade that I heard this player was also included in the deal, which made me feel a little better about it. Littrell is a minor leaguer, so it will be a few years until we see if he ends up helping the team out or not. This is not comforting for people who want to see immediate returns for this trade, but that is the reality. He might help out, he might not. We will have to wait and see.
When I first heard of this trade, I thought the Cardinals gave up too much. And perhaps they did. But I think a key part about this trade is something Jim Edmonds mentioned during the post-game show of that day's game. Edmonds believes that this trade is essentially a kick in the the butt to the team. Had the team played better collectively, this trade would not have been necessary. And that is true. Maybe this team needed a wake up call to get them going. Giving them time was not working. We will see if it is effective.
So who got the better end of this trade? I think baseball writer Ken Rosenthal put it best. Rosenthal states, "No trade can be judged fairly the day it happens. Think of all the deals over the years that appeared one way and turned out another". If Kelly and Craig are injured, they might not produce in Boston either. If one or both of them is healthy, then Boston gets a solid pitcher and an MVP quality player. And as I said, it will be a few years until we see if Corey Littrell helps out or not. Until then we wait and we root, root, root for the Cardinals.
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