The star of the 2011 Major League postseason is on the move as the St. Louis Cardinals have traded hometown hero David Freese along with reliever Fernando Salas to the Los Angeles Angels. In return the Cardinals will get center fielder Peter Bourjos and outfield prospect Randal Grichuk.
The 30-year-old third baseman, Freese is coming off a disappointing 2013 season. He batted .262/.340/.381 (101 OPS+) with just nine home runs and 60 RBIs. Back issues limited the 2011 NLCS and World Series MVP to just 138 games this season.
The 28-year-old Salas is a right-handed reliever who has gone downhill since starting the 2011 season as the Cardinals closer. He is coming off a season where he appeared in 27 games with a 4.50 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.
The 26-year-old Bourjos is a career .251/.306/.398 hitter (98 OPS+) across parts of four major-league seasons. In 2013, Bourjos hit .274/.333/.377 with 3 home runs in 55 games. He missed most of the year because of a wrist fracture. Bourjos is also known for his great speed. He has 41 career stolen bases in 54 attempts, and 18 career triples in 354 games. He is also seen as an elite defensive center fielder, something the Cardinals have not seen since the days of Jim Edmonds. His speed and range will be especially handy with one of Allen Craig or rookie Oscar Tavares likely manning right field for the Cards in 2014.
The 22-year-old Grichuk is known for his potential as a power hitter. The 22-year-old was the 24th overall pick of the 2009 draft, and owns a career batting line of .284/.324/.497 across five minor-league seasons. Last season for Double-A Arkansas, Grichuk totaled 22 homers and 27 doubles in 542 plate appearances.
It is expected that Matt Carpenter will move from second base to third base providing a significant defensive upgrade on Freese. Star prospect Kolten Wong appears ready to take over for the Cardinals at 2B where his defensive game should be an upgrade to Carpenter.
The question now becomes what will happen to incumbent Cardinals center fielder Jon Jay.
Meanwhile for the Angels, they will simply move Mike Trout into a full-time center field spot, where the defensive game shouldn’t really suffer, and Freese will give them another bat on the infield, as they hope he gets back to his 2011 and 2012 form with a move to the American League.
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