Cardinals land John Lackey from Boston

On Thursday the Cardinals were busy on trade deadline day. They picked up starting pitcher John Lackey from the Boston Red Sox, along with prospect LHP Corey Littrell for right fielder Allen Craig and starting pitcher Joe Kelly. I'll get to Lackey and the others soon. As for Littrell he seems like a good pitcher for depth, he's young and right now in 19 games and 18 starts he's 5-5 with an era of 3.60, he's pitched 100 innings in his seconds minor league season. He has 91 strikeouts and 38 walks. In his future he could be best as a middle reliever or a back end of the rotation type of guy. That's if he reaches the MLB, his stats seem like he has a chance.

Littrell can reach 89-92 on the radar gun, besides his fastball; he throws a curveball, cutter, and a change up. He was ranked the the Red Sox 36th best prospect at the time of the trade.

As for John Lackey, the Cardinals get a starter who has been a big game pitcher in his career, he's not scared to speak his mind. He'll battle on the mound. In 2013, Lackey became the only starter to win to clinching World Series games for two different teams (the Los Angeles Angels in 2002, and Boston Red Sox 2013). The Red Sox signed Lackey as a free agent in December, 2009. The contract was a five-year deal worth $82.5 million. In the contract the Red Sox put a clause in his deal that said if he missed any season due to an injury, they'd have a club option for $500,000 in 2015.

He would later end up having Tommy John surgery and ended up missing the 2012 season. He was able to pitch his way back after having Tommy John surgery. So, he's strikeouts always have been about the same in his career, except for the 2011 season. He also gets lots of credit from people for the Red Sox success in 2013.

Now for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. It's sad to see both leave. We all need to know that in sports it's always a business. So fan favorites who mean a lot to a team do get traded. Just because they get traded doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Craig was one of the best RBI' machines over the last couple of years. For whatever reason his power seems to be on the decline. And the Cardinals have someone named Oscar Taveras who has been waiting to play full-time.

Taveras mastered triple-A, so why send him to back to Memphis, when there's pretty much nothing left for him to learn? If you had been in a GM shoes what would you all have done if you had to find playing time for Taveras in the MLB? The Cardinals weren't going to trade him, even though there were rumors about him being traded. There's always rumors, teams even wanted Matt Adams? Would you have traded Adams, who's the Cardinals best hitter? I wouldn't have.

I hope Craig does well in Boston, I wish him luck. It's time for Oscar Taveras to play full-time, he has it in him to be a good player. Any GM would have been in a hard situation deciding what to do with both Taveras and Craig. In the end both are starting, so that should be good for both players.

Joe Kelly he's young, but still learning and can improve. Why did the Cardinals trade him you might ask? Easy, they wanted to upgrade their rotation. They need pitchers who can eat innings if they want to make the playoffs. Ever since Michael Wacha got injured and landed on DL, pitchers not named Adam Wainwright and Lance Lynn haven't been going deep into innings. That has made the bullpen become overworked. You don't need a bullpen overworked, when trying to get a playoff spot.

Kelly can help the Red Sox, it was kind of like spring training again for him though. And that's because he's just getting off the DL, and refinding his pitches. He was getting killed in his last four starts, with an era of 7.32 combined for those starts. So, does it make sense to let Kelly stay starting or find pitching who can help make the playoffs or decide to tank it and miss the playoffs?

In Lackey, they get a proven starter who can eat innings and at this point is better than Kelly. Would I have liked to see Kelly stay? Yes I would have. But the Cardinals goal is to always make the playoffs isn't that the goal every season? After all no one knows what will happen in the playoffs once a team gets in. This team have the offense to scoring runs, and can hit. I think the team needed a wake up call somehow and someway. Teams need wake up calls at times, even if it means shaking up the roster.
Allen Craig had been struggling. And didn't seem to be helping the team much, when given chances to see if he could bounce back. Maybe it's because he needs a new team to refind his power. If that's the case, Craig should do well in Boston.

In the end we can be glad the Cardinals are trying to do their best to make the playoffs. And trying to fix one of their main problems which has been starting pitching, ever since Wacha landed on the DL. Keep in mind the rest of the teams like the Pirates and Brewers didn't do much to try to improve, even though the Brewers got a nice player in Gerardo Parra. Other than that the other teams didn't improve. I think those teams sent a message that the trade market is too high.

And if the Cardinals need to add a little offense they still can make a trade in offense, which I could see happening. That's if teams prices drop on players. A lot of the reason to why prices are so high on players is because there are two wild cards now, so there are lots of teams who think they can make a playoff push. So teams now days tend to want to play it out and see if they can make a playoff push.

Just to name a few August trades from the past who ended up helping the team are: John Axford, Larry Walker, and Woody Williams. At least the Cardinals didn't panic and trade the farm for a rental for a few months. When there's no guarantee that the player would stay. And you don't want to give up a prospect you could regret in the future, Micheal Brantley is a perfect example of that who comes to mind. I'm sure the Brewers wish they never traded him.

All in all this should turn out to be a good trade for both teams. The Cardinals also have a ton of pitching depth who could be ready for the MLB soon. One of those pitchers who isn't far off is Marco Gonzales, just to name one of them.

Jori Lehtera leaves KHL, signs with Blues

Finland native, center Jori Lehtera, has signed a two-year contract with the St. Louis Blues. He'll make $5.5 million over those two years. Lehtera, 26, was drafted by the Blues in the 2008 NHL draft in the 3rd round, and was picked 65th overall. He had a short stent in the Blues minors in 2008-2009, for then the Peoria Rivermen. He played in 7 games for them and recorded an assist. That season they made the playoffs, and he played 7 games in their playoff run, with 1 goal, and 1 assist, and 2 points. Besides that short stent in North America, he's been playing in the KHL, Russia's top league for hockey.

He's was able to make himself one of the top players in the KHL, while playing for Sibir Novosibirsk. One of his teammates there was current Blues player Vladimir Tarasenko, in 2011-2012. Both had great chemistry playing together, so that should be able to help Lehtera who hasn't played an NHL game yet. He's pretty much player who is high skilled, and is a pass first player. Last season, while playing for Sibir Novosibirsk, he played in 44 games, with 12 goals, 32 assists, 44 points, and was a plus 14. In the playoffs for them, he played in 10 games, getting 6 assists, and 6 points. He made back to back All-Star games while playing in the KHL the last two season.

It sounds like he could center a line with Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko. If that line ends up to be true come the start of the NHL season, it could end up being a pretty sweet line to watch.

I'm excited to what Lehtera can do in the NHL once he plays. There's been lots of talk about him before.

Blues make big splash on first day of NHL free agency, land Paul Stastny

The St. Louis Blues have been looking for a number one center for awhile, that that on today when they signed free agent center Paul Stastny. He gets a four-year contract, the deal is worth $28 million. Stastny,28, was drafted by he Colorado Avalanche in the 2005 NHL draft in the 2nd round, picked no.44th overall. His first season in the NHL was in 2006-2007. That season he played in all 82 games, scoring 28 goals, with 50 assists, and 78 points, he finished as a plus 4. He also scored 11 goals on the powerplay that season. He ended up finished second in the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year) voting. He's played eight seasons in the NHL, so far he's played in 538 games, 160 goals, 298 assists, 458 points, 47 powerplay goals, 1 shorthanded goal, and is a plus 6. In the playoffs, he's played 22 games, with 8 goals, 10 assists, 18 points, and is a minus 4.

Stastny, made his first NHL All-Star team in 2010-2011. Last season he played for team USA in  Sochi, Russia. He joins current teammates David Backes, T.J. Oshie, and Kevin Shattenkirk who were part of team USA. Shattenkirk also knows Stastny from the Avalanche, before the Avalanche traded him to the Blues a couple of years ago.

He's the son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, who played for the Blues before the end of his career, and is the younger brother of former Blue Yan Stastny (played for the Blues from 2007-2010). He'll become the fifth farther-son combo to play for the Blues in franchise history.

This is a great move by the Blues to start their offseason. The Blues needed a number one center and more offense. They get both in Paul Stastny. Kudos to the Blues for stepping up and landing him.

Blues swap defensemen with Maple Leafs

The St. Louis Blues trade defenseman Roman Polak to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, and the 94th pick in the 2014 NHL draft (Ville Husso). Husso, turned out to be the pick. He was ranked number one for European goalies. Polak was drafted by the Blues in the 2004 NHL draft in the 6th round, overall he was picked 180th. Since Polak's rookie season in 2006-2007, he's played 424 games, with 13 goals, 66 assists, and 79 points in eight seasons and is a minus 7. He's played in 25 playoff games, only has 2 assists, and is a minus 11 in the playoffs.

As for Gunnarsson what does he bring to the Blues? He can control the puck better than Polak can. Both are pretty much similar types of players, except Gunnarsson fits Ken Hitchcock's system on the Blues. Gunnarsson was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the 2007 NHL draft in the 7th round, overall he was picked 194th. His rookie season came in 2009-2010, that year he played in 43 games and scored 3 goals, with 12 assists for 15 points. He lead the Leafs in the plus/minus department with a plus 8.
He was paired with Dion Phaneuf for the Leafs top paring. He looked good making up for Phanuef's mistakes. Last season on a bad Maple Leafs team he finished as a plus 12.

In his career his played five seasons in the NHL so far and has played 304 games, with 15 goals, 71 assists, and 86 points, and is a plus 14. He's played 7 career playoff games, with 1 assist and is a minus 7. 

People liked Polak a lot, they'll tend to like Gunnarsson if they give him a chance. Polak made hits and got lots of blocked shots, well guess what? Last season lets compare both Polak had 130 blocked shots, and 151 hits. As for Gunnarsson, he had 176 blocked shots and 166 hits. It's a win-win for both teams if you look at it. Gunnarsson fits Hitchcock's style better, and controls the puck better. The Blues improved their game. That's one improvement into making this team better than last years team so far. Will Jordan Leopold be traded? I could see the Blues trading him to clear cap space and find someone who could fill Polak's role with maybe less playing time in free agency. Both Polak and Gunnarsson are about the same age.

Twins land free agent 1B/DH Kendrys Morales

The Minnesota Twins have signed first basemen/designated hitter Kendrys Morales to a one-year contract. The deal is worth $7.5 million for the rest of the 2014 season. Morales played for the Seattle Mariners in 2013, after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim traded him to Seattle in December 2012. He's played seven seasons in the MLB, after making his debut on May 23,2006. It would be nine seasons, but he injured himself on a walk-off grand slam in 2010 and missed all of the 2011 season recovering from his injury.

Morales' best season came in 2009, when he played 152, hitting .306, 173 hits, 43 doubles, 86 runs scored, 2 triples, 34 home runs, and 108 rbi's. In 2013, for the Mariners, he had his best season since 2009. He hit .277, with 23 home runs, and 80 rbi's.

His career stats are: 620 games played, 622 hits, 130 doubles, 280 runs scored, 4 triples, 4 stolen bases, 345 rbi's, and a career batting average of .280.

I like the move a lot for the Twins, they seem to be playing a lot better than people excepted them right now coming into the season. They get a power bat in their line up in Morales, who is capable of driving in runs.

Brian Elliott re-signs with Blues

The St. Louis Blues have re-signed goalie Brian Elliot to a three-year contract. The deal is worth $7.5 million in his new contract. Elliott 29,
would have become a free agent on July 1st. He signed with the Blues as a a free agent back in July, 2011. At the time he almost found himself out of the NHL. He was able to re-find his career with the Blues, beating out former Blues goalie Ben Bishop for the back up behind then goalie Jaroslav Halak (now with the New York Islanders). Bishop did better in camp than Elliott, but the Blues chose Elliott because he had more NHL experience.

Elliott went to the NHL All-Star game in 2012. He also won the Jennings Trophy from the 2011-2012 season, that award goes to the goalies who's team has the fewest goals scored against them. So, Halak won that with Elliott.

Before joining the Blues, Elliott played for the Ottawa Senators and the Colorado Avalanche. As a Blues goalie, Elliott is 55-24-7, and is tied for second for most shutouts in franchise history with 16. His career stats over his seven year career in the NHL are: 245 games played, 116 wins, 77 losses, 23 overtime losses, and 28 shutouts. Over that time his saver percentage is .910 and his goals against is 2.48. Elliott has come along way after going 15-27-9 with 1 shutout in the 2010-2011 season between the Senators and Avalanche.

I like the move a lot by the Blues. The Blues now know who their goalies will be for next season, Jake Allen and Brian Elliott. Allen should be the no.1 overtime, but both will share time first.

Cardinals sign shortstop Aledmys Diaz

The St. Louis Cardinals have been wanting to expand their market into Cuba and Asia. Well, on Sunday afternoon they did just that by signing Cuban free agent shortstop Aledmys Diaz.  Diaz, 23, gets a four-year contract. The deal looks like it's worth $15-$20 million, even though there's no official word on the terms of the contract.

Lots of MLB teams scouted Diaz, who was suspended for a year after he lied about his age. In his last season in Cuba, he hit .315 with 12 home runs and 11 stolen bases in 270 at bats. There are teams who think that Diaz is better off playing second base. Diaz, views himself as a shortstop, but he can also play second base and third base. One of the things teams have liked about him most is the power that he is capable of producing when he's in a line-up. There are some mixed reports about his defense. That's one reason why there are teams who think he's better off playing second base in the long run. I guess the Cardinals will find out where he fits better. The Cardinals seem to do well with players who can play multi-positions.

In signing Diaz, the Cardinals get infield depth and maybe a starting shortstop for the future. He'll start out in the minors in 2014 and work his way up the the MLB. As of right now it looks like he'll be at double A Springfield or triple A Memphis. He'll be in Cardinals camp on Monday in Jupiter, FL. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny plans to get him in games right away to see where he is. The signing looks like it could be a win-win for both Diaz and the Cardinals.