The St. Louis Cardinals acquired third baseman Mark DeRosa from the Cleveland Indians for right-handed reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later. DeRosa, 34, is hitting .270/.342/.457 in 314 plate appearances this season. Perez, 24, has a 4.18 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched this season.
DeRosa gives St. Louis a quality major leaguer to fill-in for the injured Tory Glaus at third. He’ll be an upgrade over the Quad-A players the Cardinals have been starting. Perez will work as a late-inning reliever for years to come, but the PTBNL will justify this deal. Perez alone is not enough for DeRosa’s versatility and bat.
Hernandez is the likeliest of the signings to make a major impact. Hernandez has never relied on his velocity to get outs, so age should not have as much impact on him as it would on others. The Garcia signing looks like a favor from Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. Garcia is married to Ozzie’s second cousin.
The Atlanta Braves acquired center fielder Nate McLouth from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for three minor league prospects. The Pirates received right-handed pitcher Charlie Morton, left-handed pitcher Jeff Locke, and outfielder Gorkys Hernandez. McLouth, 27, is hitting .256/.349/.470 in 195 plate appearances this season. Hernandez and Locke were ranked as the 8th and 10th best prospects in the Braves‘ organization, according to John Sickels.
The Braves have the minor league depth to make this move. McClouth certainly solves the team’s short-term outfield woes. With Jordan Schafer and Jason Heyward so near ready for big league jobs, one has to suspect Jeff Francoeur’s days in Atlanta are numbered.
None of the prospects acquired by Pittsburgh are clear future big league forces, but they do allow the team to stockpile their minor league system, which is the best move for Pittsburgh now and going forward. Let the Andrew McCutchen era begin in Pittsburgh.