Digesting the Zack Cox-Edward Mujica Trade

I’ve been watching the Olympics on the NBC networks and staying away from social media to avoid any spoilers of what was going to be happening during the primetime coverage. As such, I had no idea that the St. Louis Cardinals were going to be making any trades.

I can’t say that I am surprised that the Cardinals made a trade. Being a Louisville native, I was saddened to see that the Cardinals traded away

Zack Cox

, the 2010 first round draft pick (25th overall), in the process. The Marlins have assigned Cox to Jacksonville (AA).

I can understand why the Cards traded Cox. He’s a third baseman and he’s going to be blocked at the big league level by David Freese for quite some time. This does not mean I have to be happy about losing a prospect. I am quite aware of his struggles at the plate this season. Playing in 2012 for the Memphis Redbirds, Cox hit .254, well down from the batting average of .293 that hit in Springfield in 2011 or the .335 in Palm Beach (A+).

The Cardinals obtained right-handed pitcher Edward Mujica, a reliever, from the Miami Marlins. Only 28, the Venezuelan native was signed in 2001 by the Cleveland Indians and made his Major League debut in 2006. In 2009, he was sent to the Padres. The next season, he was a part of the deal that sent Cameron Maybin to the Padres from the Marlins.

As far as his contract is concerned, it does not appear that he will be a rental player like Edwin Jackson and Octavio Dotel were last season. It’s possible that the Cardinals kept this in mind when they were making moves this week, given the revised CBA that was ratified during the offseason. In 2013, the pitcher will be considered a 2nd-Year Arb Eligible. The earliest that Mujica would be able to file as a free agent will not come until 2014.

In 39 innings for the Miami Marlins, he gave up 21 runs, 19 of which were earned. In his first inning of pitching for the Cardinals this week, he faced 3 batters and did not give up a run. I’d call that a solid Cardinals debut!

The stat that does scare me is that with the Marlins this year, he’s averaging 1.4 home runs per 9 innings. This number needs to get lower as the season progresses these next two months. Yes, I know–I’m in disbelief that it is the second day of August.

Time will tell of course as to what kind of trade this will ultimately be.