A trade went down today and although it's not as sexy as the Prince Fielder variety, (if one can think of Prince Fielder and sexy in the same sentence) it's not a meaningless trade either.
The Cardinals essentially swapped third basemen without a job, David Freese for Peter Bourjos from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels have a hole at third base so this certainly fills a need but any way you want to slice it, Peter Bourjos is the better player here. David Freese isn't as bad as his 2013 campaign (106 wRC+/1.3 WAR) but he's also likely not as good as "peak" in 2012. Freese doesn't carry a great glove and his productive years have been a result of fortunate balls in play as he doesn't have too much power with a career .427 SLG and .141 ISO.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are now able to slide Matt Carpenter to third base, use prospect Kolten Wong at second base, move Jon Jay to right field to replace Carlos Beltran and finally have themselves an actual center fielder playing the position. With one swap, the Cardinals solidified four positions and gave themselves some nice insurance in case super prospect Oscar Taveras isn't ready. Nice work.There will be worse fielders playing in center in 2014 than Jon Jay but anyone who watches the games could see he's not particularly great with the glove. Bourjos happens to be one of the best fielders in the game. I could illustrate that fact with a slew of advanced stats but just know that the Angels had Mike Trout playing left field because Peter Bourjos was on the team. 'Nuff said.
Considering David Freese was a surplus for the Cardinals coming off of a down year, he was a solid buy-low option for whichever team wanted to acquire him. However, buying low provides that you do just that, and the Angels did not do that here. Bourjos has yet to play an entire season (some coaching/some injury issues) but if and when he does, on the heels of his glove, he would certainly be a more valuable. But, he's no slouch with the bat as he's also a totally acceptable hitter as well. In 1,136 plate appearances Bourjos has a 96 wRC+. That's a league average hitter who happens to be one of, if not the best center fielders in the game. I said I didn't need any stats, but what the hell, since he entered the league in 2010, only four out fielders have been more valuable with the glove. The kid can play.
Fernando Salas is also going to Los Angeles with Randal Grichuk coming over to St. Louis. I don't know much about Grichuk, but he's a top-10 prospect in the Angels farm system. He won't turn 23 until August and just hit a decent .256/.306/.474 in AA this season. Who knows how Grichuk will end up but Fernando Salas has little to no value, Grichuk certainly has some.
Early next season, David Freese will be 31 years old with two years of team control. Peter Bourjos will be 27 years old with three more years of team control. Bourjos is cheaper, better and the Cardinals will have control of him for a longer time. It's basically impossible to say this isn't a great trade for St. Louis. The Cardinals don't have the budget that some teams do but the rich certainly got richer here.
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