DownSwinging.com

With just over a month away from the trade deadline, the St. Louis Cardinals have made the first move to nab a short-term boost to its team by way of Mark DeRosa. DeRosa, 34, came over from the struggling Cleveland Indians in exchange for a reliever and a player to be named later. The Cardinals are currently a half-game up on the Milwaukee Brewers and in the lead in the NL Central, a hotly-contested division.

The move is brilliant for the Cardinals. Firstly, they were able to pick up another strong hitter who has some pop. DeRosa hit .285 with 21 HRs for the Cubs last season, and already has 13 bombs in 2009. What’s even better for the Cards is the versatility that DeRosa brings. DeRosa is certainly an everyday player for them, but the beauty is that on a team that has been playing only mediocre recently, DeRosa allows guys to have a day off and still be filled in with a strong player. DeRosa can play second base, third base and both corner outfield positions.

It was rumored a few days ago that the Indians were in discussions with both the Cubs and Cardinals about acquiring DeRosa’s services, and at the time I wrote a comment on MLBTradeRumors that I thought the Cardinals made the most sense. The reason being is that with Troy Glaus currently coming back from injury, the Cards really don’t know exactly what to expect from him nor can they be certain of his health. DeRosa provides an insurance policy for Glaus, which will be extremely valuable if this team is trying to not just make the playoffs but go farther.

The other great part of the move is the timing. If you are picking up a guy mid-season, most likely just for that season (DeRosa will be a free agent after this year) it doesn’t always make sense to wait until the trade deadline. Cleveland knows they are out of the hunt, so they were willing to part with DeRosa now, and this way St. Louis gets an extra month of production out of him.

Lastly, this has got to hurt for the Cubbies. Not only was Chicago trying to trade for DeRosa right now, but they foolishly traded him away after last season, and are paying double the price for it now that he has ended up with the team’s biggest rival.