Cardinals acquire Justin Masterson from Indians

The Cardinals have agreed to acquire right-handed starter Justin Masterson from the Indians, according to a report from Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com. According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, outfield prospect James Ramsey is heading to the Indians in the one-for-one deal.

The Cardinals have been looking for rotation depth since injuries sidelined Jaime Garcia and Michael Wacha for significant amounts of time, and have been linked to David Price, Jon Lester and Cole Hamels among lesser options on the trade market. With prices seeming to be exorbitant for those types of pitchers, St. Louis struck with a deal for Masterson, whose performance this year and status on the disabled list likely lowered his cost.

Masterson has had a rough year, pitching to a 4-6 record and 5.51 ERA in 19 starts with Cleveland. He has seen a dip in velocity this season in what many believe is a result of the knee injury that currently has him on the disabled list, and has expressed frustration at not being able to perform at a high level in his free agent year. He will join Adam Wainwright, Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller and Joe Kelly in the Cardinals' rotation, possibly meaning that they are done with their pursuit of starting pitching on the trade market for this summer. Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com writes that the addition of Masterson does not necessarily take the Cardinals out of the running for Lester.

Ramsey, 24, has hit .300/.389/.527 in 67 games with the Cardinals' Double-A affiliate this season but was considered expendable due to the Cardinals' surplus of high-upside outfield prospects. He was recently ranked by MLB.com as the sixth best prospect in the team's system and is regarded for his strong bat, speed and ability to play both center field and right field.