Cardinals Acquire Mark DeRosa From Indians

by Eric Simon on Jun 28, 2009 12:16 AM EDT

It seems the Mark DeRosa sweepstakes are over before they even had a chance to heat up, as the Indians have traded the versatile infielder/outfielder to the Cardinals in exchange for RHP Chris Perez and a player to be named later.

DeRosa was hitting .270/.342/.457 with 13 homeruns and 50 RBI, spending time in left field, right field, at third base and first base. He also played some shortstop and second base with the Cubs in 2008, so Tony La Russa will have the flexibility to play him almost anywhere on the diamond.

Perez was rated the third-best prospect in the St. Louis organization before the season by John Sickels at Minor League Ball. Sickels graded him a B+, saying, "Outstanding closer-quality stuff, just needs to throw strikes.".

DeRosa was rumored to be heading to the Cubs as recently as Saturday, and we also counted the Mets, Yankees and Marlins among his other suitors. DeRosa is in the final year of a three-year, $13 million deal he signed with the Cubs before the 2007 season. His salary for 2009 is $5.5 million, with the Cardinals to pay the $2.8 millino or so remaining.

The player-to-be-named-later should be a good one, if Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro is to be believed:

"It's an important piece for us. That's a structure that we've felt has worked well for us in past trades, in times where we've acquired guys like Coco Crisp and Michael Brantley. It's a piece that adds significant value for us."

More on the PTBNL when information becomes available. For additional coverage check out Viva El Birdos and Let's Go Tribe.

Poll

Who won the Mark DeRosa trade:

Cardinals

176 votes

Indians

54 votes

230 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Teahen to the Cubs a lock

Mark my words the cubs will now trade for Mark Teahen

Peter Gammons tweeted that they are interested

by Jcam on Jun 28, 2009 12:19 AM EDT reply actions

All I want to know is what effect does this have on the Cards pursuit of Holliday?

They wanted real protection for Pujols….derosa does not give it to them. He is a solid player but…not a replacement for Matt Holliday

What you fail to understand in your joyless myopia is that baseball is the key to life-- the Rosetta Stone, if you will. If you just understood baseball better all your other questions your, your... the, uh... the aliens, the conspiracies they would all, in their way be answered by the baseball gods.

by winchester5 on Jun 28, 2009 12:59 AM EDT reply actions

It makes Brett Wallace tradeable (for Holliday, obviously)

Assuming the Cards extend DeRosa, he takes over 3B anyways.

"I’m Joey Devine, I’m what Joba Chamberlain would be if he was good and nobody had ever heard of him."

by mikev on Jun 28, 2009 2:55 AM EDT up reply actions

I would love for this to be true mikev

by winchester5 on Jun 28, 2009 3:47 AM EDT up reply actions

Given what the Cardinals gave up for DeRosa I can’t imagine this would alter their Holliday plans at all. They certainly still have the prospects to acquire Holliday, it’s just a matter if they are willing to take on his contract.

by Matt Buggenhagen on Jun 28, 2009 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions

St. Louis baseball town

DeRosa baseball player Kevin Towers are you paying attention. I’ll see you cardnails in August 14-16 go padres

by Lone Padre Fan QCA on Jun 28, 2009 1:14 AM EDT reply actions

I hope Hendry is satisfied. Giving up DeRosa was one of the biggest blunders of his tenure and now their nemesis has him.

by csg479 on Jun 28, 2009 10:53 AM EDT reply actions

Driveline Mechanics will have three articles on this – we’ve already published two:

A Mechanical Look at Chris Perez
A PITCHf/x Look at Chris Perez

Webmaster of Driveline Mechanics
http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An Unconventional Look at Scouting

by Kyle Boddy on Jun 28, 2009 1:07 PM EDT reply actions

i actually think the Indians won this one

Perez is a future closer, and though relievers have a pretty low ceiling for overall value, they need as many good ’pen arms as they can get.

and DeRosa is not as good as some think he is. he’s projected to be a touch over league average offensively over the remainder of the season and he’s a defensive negative everywhere but LF and RF. if the Cards picked him up to fill the void at 3B then they just got themselves a regular old league average 3B. still valuable, but i think they could have done better for what they gave away. of course, this assumes that the PTBNL is as good as Shapiro says he is.

I am an internationally recognized Ghostbusters Expert. - Mads

by Charlie Scrabbles on Jun 28, 2009 3:32 PM EDT reply actions