So, it wasn't the three-team deal that everyone was originally reporting, but eventually all the pieces have ended up where we expected them. According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Cardinals and Blue Jays are closing in a deal that will send center fielder Colby Rasmus, Trever Miller, Brian Tallet and P.J. Walters to Toronto in exchange for Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson.
Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch originally reported the Rasmus-for-Jackson/Dotel/Rzepczynski portion; Olney updated us with the additional pieces. Olney is also now reporting that Miller will be flipped again, to the White Sox; these three teams have been ridiculously busy today, huh?
And yes, that collective gasp you hear is a reflection of the ridiculously weak package that St. Louis is receiving from Toronto. While Jackson is arguably the best player in this deal at the moment, he's a free agent at the end of the season; when the 2011 season concludes, Toronto will be looking at Rzepczynski and a couple draft picks as their return for a player that was once viewed as a franchise cornerstone.
As for Toronto, this deal is an absolute steal, and pushes them closer towards being legitimate contenders in the near future. I've already practically tripped over myself while throwing praise towards Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos over at Beyond the Box Score, but I'm just blown away that, once again, Anthopoulos has gone out and made a deal that practically everyone is lauding as a steal. All in all, I think it's hard to look at the Cardinals as anything but losers in this whole ordeal, unless Edwin Jackson goes all CC Sabathia on us over the next couple months and carries St. Louis to a deep playoff run.