St. Louis Cardinals trade Marc Rzepczynski to the Cleveland Indians

Hours after being optioned down to the Memphis Redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals sent Marc Rzepczynski to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for a minor leaguer.
Feb 19, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Marc Rzepczynski (34) poses for a picture during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium. Image Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Rzepczynski was the final piece from the July 27, 2011 trade that was remaining with the Cardinals. Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, and Corey Patterson left the team following the 2011 World Series via free agency.

In 3 seasons with the Cardinals, Scrabble was 1-6 with a 4.63 ERA over 109 appearances. In 79.2 innings pitched, he allowed 84 hits, 42 runs (41 earned), walked 32 and struck out 70 batters.

Playing in the 2011 postseason, Scrabble picked up the win in the series-clinching Game 6 of the NLCS to. He appeared in 5 of the 6 games.

While the 2011 trade is nowhere close to that of 1964 when the Cardinals traded pitcher Ernie Broglio to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for outfielder and future Hall of Famer Lou Brock, it is unlikely that the Cardinals make the playoff run that they did without that trade.

In exchange for Scrabble, the Indians sent Juan Herrera, a shortstop for Mahoning Valley of the New York-Penn League (A-Short Season). The 20 year old had been batting .275 this season in 39 games with 9 doubles, a home run, and 11 RBI. The Dominican Republic native was signed by the Indians in October 2010 as an undrafted free agent.

The Cardinals have announced that he will be assigned to the State College (Pa.) Spikes.

Meanwhile, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak believes that it is unlikely the Cardinals will make any more moves before the deadline.

"“I still think there are opportunities to see players traded by tomorrow,” Mozeliak said between games of Tuesday’s doubleheader. “I don’t feel very optimistic that we’ll be one of those active clubs. Obviously there is still time on the clock and things could change, but some of the things we were exploring, we just haven’t been able to come to where we have a meeting of the minds.”"

We shall see, of course.