Jaime Garcia Dealt To Braves

When the St. Louis Cardinals picked up starting pitcher Jaime Garcia's $12 million option for 2017, there were rumors that he was going to be traded. On Thursday evening, those became realistic when the Cardinals traded Jaime Garcia to the Atlanta Braves for prospects RHP Chris Ellis, RHP John Gant, and 2B Luke Dykstra.

Garcia spent eight seasons with the Cardinals. In lots of ways, Garcia could have maybe been better, but he was hurt a lot. Garcia can be really good, when he's healthy. His best season came in 2011, when he went 13-7, with an era of 3.56, and 194.2 innings. In 2016, Garcia went 10-13, with an era of 4.67, with 171.2 innings.

Over his career, Garcia's record is: 62-45, 3.57 era, 158 games, 147 starts, 4 complete games, 4 shutouts, 723 strikeouts, 261 walks, 896 innings, and a whip of 1.28.

What do the Cardinals get in Ellis, Gants, and Dykstra? It seems like depth for now. Chris Ellis was rated as the Braves 17th best prospect, and John Gant was 21st. Luke Dykstra is a player who hits for average, but doesn't have much power. Dykstra seems to be a future utility player. He's the son of former MLB player Lenny Dykstra.

John Gant was in the MLB last season, and went 1-4, with an era of 4.86, and 50 innings. Gant made 7 starts for the Braves.

Chris Ellis has yet to see the MLB, but he showed some flashes when he was in Mississippi for the Braves Double-A team. Ellis struggled when he reached Triple-A.

Brett Cecil Signs With Cardinals, Boosts Bullpen

When it was announced that left-handed reliever Zach Duke would need Tommy John surgery, and be out for the 2017 season; the Cardinals knew they needed another lefty for their bullpen. The Cardinals accomplished that mission with the signing for free agent reliever Brett Cecil. Cecil, 30, signs a four-year contract, worth $30.5 million. On this years free agent market, Cecil was the third best reliever behind closers Aroldis Chapman, and Kenley Jansen. He spent his first eight seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Cecil, started of as a starting pitcher and then became a set-up man for the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen. Going to the bullpen, has made Cecil better. In three of his four seasons, he's had an era below 2.90. This season he had an era of 3.93. He's had a stirkeout rate of 11.5, and a walk rate of 3.68 with the Blue Jays. He is able to keep left handed hitters in check, holding them to a .226 batting average.

Brett Cecil's career stats: 41-42, 4.20 era, 330 games, 74 starts, 2 complete games, 1 shutout, 11 saves, 585 strikeouts, 228 walks, 656.0 innings, and a whip of 1.34.

Cecil will be the set-up man for closer Seung-hwan Oh. The Cardinals bullpen locks are: Seung-hwan Oh, Brett Cecil, Kevin Siegrist, Trevor Rosenthal, Matt Bowman. Jonathan Broxton, Miguel Socolovich, and Marco Gonzales seem to be fighting for two of the final spots.

Blues Acquire Nail Yakupov

The Edmonton Oilers were shopping right winger Nail Yakupov for a few seasons. Yakupov, 23, was drafted 1st overall in June 2012 by the Oilers. In his rookie season 012-013, he looked like his career was off to promising start. He played in 48 games, scoring 17 goals, and getting 14 assists. He scored 6 power play goals, and 2 game winners. Since then, Yakupov's numbers seemed to have dropped. He fell out of favor in Edmonton, and looked like he needed a change of scenery. For whatever reason, he wasn't going to live up to his potential in Edmonton.

On Friday, he got a good change of scenery being traded to the St. Louis Blues for prospect Zach Pochiro and a conditional draft pick. The Blues also needed another right winger, after losing David Backes in free agency. The Blues also will be without forward Jaden Schwartz for a bit, due to an injury. So, Yakupov could find new life on the Blues. There are more veterans on the Blues, unlike Edmonton had. That could help Yakupov too. Will he do well for the Blues? That will be found out, I could see him scoring 15-20 goals, if he's given ice team and does well. Yakupov should see plenty of ice time to start the season. It's also a contract year for Yakupov, he will be a restricted free agent.
He has the talent to be good, he just need to put it together. If he finds a way to put it together in St Louis, this is a big trade for the Blues. For now, it's a low risk and high reward type of move.

Yakupov's career stats: 252 games, 50 goals, 61 assists, 111 points, and is a -88.

Future Catcher Carson Kelly Promoted

The St. Louis Cardinals called up catcher Carson Kelly from Triple-A Memphis. Who is Carson Kelly you might ask? Kelly, 22, was drafted by the Cardinals in the 2nd round of the MLB draft in June, 2012. At the time Kelly played third base, coming out of high school. He played third base for his first two minor league seasons, and starting in 2014 he would switch to catcher full-time. Kelly seems like he's figured out catching pretty well too. Last season, Kelly won the 2015 minor leagues Rawlings Gold Glove award for catchers. So since 2014, people have labeled Kelly as the future Cardinals catcher.

While Kelly has good

Kelly may not play in many games this September for the Cardinals, because Yadier Molina is doing well, and his back up Alberto Rosario is doing well too. And the Cardinals also have Brayan Pena. Pena had two knee surgeries, so no one really knows if he'll catch or just pinch hit. Kelly can learn a lot from Yadier Molina, Pena, and manager Mike Matheny (a former catcher) being up and he can work with the pitching staff too.

He has defense, and his power is still developing. This season combined between Springfield and Memphis he's hitting .289, with 6 home runs, and 32 rbi's. Overall in his minor league career, he's a .248 hitter, with 425 hits, 35 home runs, and 202 rbi's.

Will Kelly be on the 2017 Opening Day roster? That could happen.

I'd be excited to be a Cardinals fan, their future looks really bright. Kelly joins top prospects Alex Reyes and Luke Weaver on the Cardinals active roster. Both Reyes and Weaver have shown they can be good.

Cardinals Boost Bullpen, Acquire Zach Duke

The St. Louis Cardinals looking to upgrade their bullpen before the MLB trade deadline ends on Monday afternoon, found an upgrade in Chicago White Sox left-handed reliever Zach Duke. The Cardinals traded outfielder Charlie Tilson to the White Sox for Zach Duke. So far, the Cardinals bullpen hasn't done as well as last season's bullpen. Coming into today, the Cardinals bullpen era is 3.30 (good for 6th in the league). Last season's bullpen was 3rd best and finished with an era of 2.82.

Zach Duke, 33, was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2001 in the 20th round of the MLB draft. He started his career off as a starter for the Pirates. His best season came in 2009, when he made the NL All-Star team. That season, Duke started 32 games, and went 11-16, 3 complete games, with an era of 4.06 in 213 innings. After 2013, Duke rejuvenated his career as a reliever for the Milwaukee Brewers. He finished 2014 going 5-1, with an era of 2.45, 74 games, 74 strikeouts, 17 walks, 12 holds in 58.2 innings. Duke was able to hold left-handed hitters to a .198 batting average.

Duke became a free agent after the 2014 season, and signed a three-year contract with the Chicago White Sox worth $15 million. Right now, Duke is 2-0, and has an era of 2.63 in 37.2 innings.. He's appeared in 53 games, which lead the American League in appearances.

Dating back to 2014, Duke has appeared in 198 games, which ranks fourth in the MLB and second behind Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Tony Watson (200) among lefties.

What do the White Sox get in Charlie Tilson? They get a good outfielder, who has a chance to maybe become an everyday player or a fourth outfielder. He's 23, and is known for his contact, defense, and speed. On Baseball America's update for mid-season, Tilson was ranked as the Cardinals 10th best prospect and MLB.com ranked him as the Cardinals 12th best prospect out of 30. In the minors, Tilson is a 293 career hitter, 538 hits, 265 runs, 59 doubles, 33 triples, 19 home runs, 154 rbi's, 89 stolen bases

Tilson has been compared to Yankees left-fielder Brett Gardner.

Houston Astros Sign Yulieski Gourriel

The Houston Astros, looking to upgrade their roster signed free agent third baseman Yulieski Gourriel to a five-year contract. The contract is worth $47.5 million. Gurriel, 32, was a top international free agent from Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. Lots of MLB teams wanted Gourriel, a few of those teams were the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and the San Francisco Giants.  In 2006, Gourriel was considered the best player in Cuba. He was a part of the World Baseball Classic three times for Cuba (2006, 2009, and 2013). He played in Japan for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in 2014, and 2015.

Between Cuba and Japan in fifteen seasons,Gourriel's carer stats are: 925 games played, 974 runs, 1,585 hits, 308 doubles, 48 triples, 250 home runs, 1,018 rbi's, 121 stolen bases, 611 walks, and a .335 batting average. One of his best seasons came in 2009 in Cuba, when he hit .363, with 90 runs, 125 hits, 30 home runs, and 105 rbi's.

Gourriel should help the Houston Astros immediately, he looks like he'll head to the minors first to get some work in before making his MLB debut. The Astros team just got a lot better too and the Astros already have Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve up the middle. The Astros infield looks a lot better with Gourriel. All in all the Houston Astros made a great move.

A Circle Of Changes: Mike Yeo Joins Blues

Last year in 2015, around this time the St. Louis Blues fans wanted Ken Hitchcock gone as head coach, and Mike Yeo's Minnesota Wild had just knocked out the Blues in 6 games in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The Blues were a team that hadn't won a first round playoff series since 2011-2012, when they beat the San Jose Sharks in 5 games. The Blues then lost to the Los Angeles Kings in 6 games in the second, who later went onto win the Stanley Cup. You could see why Blues fans were frustrated with Ken Hitchcock after three straight first round exits.

The Wild were the underdog team, and people expected the Blues to win. People didn't know if Ken Hitchcock would stay as head coach or leave, since his contract was up. Hitchcock decided to stay as Blues head coach for the 2015-2016 season, he took a one-year contract. The one-year contract was his own decision, the Blues had wanted to give him a long-term contract, but he wanted to see if he still could coach.

After coming back for one season, Hitchcock and the Blues went on a run to the Western Conference Finals. They ended up losing to the San Jose Sharks in 6 games, but the Blues hadn't been on that kind of run since 2000-2001. This was the Blues seventh time in franchise history to ever reach the Conference Finals.

This time, shortly after the Blues lost to the San Jose Sharks, Ken Hitchcock re-signed with the Blues for another one-year contract. Hitchcock announced that this coming season 2016-2017 will be his last season as a head coach. Assistant coaches Brad Shaw and Kirk Mueller left to take other jobs elsewhere. They both wanted longer contracts, than only one-year.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong hired Mike Yeo to become the Blues head coach after the season. Yeo, 42, will be on Hitchcock's staff as an assistant. He went 173-132-44 as head coach for the Wild, and was fired earlier during the season. Doug Armstrong tried to hire Yeo as head coach a few seasons ago, when the Peoria Rivermen had an opening. Instead, Yeo went to become head coach for the Houston Aeros (AHL). Yeo gets a four-year contract from the Blues.

In addition to Mike Yeo, the Blues also hired former Blues defenseman Rick Wilson as an assistant coach. Wilson, knows both Yeo and Hitchcock. He won the cup as part of Hitchcock's staff with the Dallas Stars in 1999, and the past few seasons he was on Mike Yeo's staff with the Wild. Wilson tends to work well with defensemen.

Yeo should be a good hire for the Blues moving forward after Hitchcock retires this coming season.