15 best trades in St. Louis Cardinals history

#8 - Matt Holliday (2009)

Cardinals acquire: OF Matt Holliday
Athletics acquire: 3B Brett Wallace, RHP Clayton Mortensen, and OF Shane Peterson

Total surplus fWAR: 26.6

While Matt Holliday is not quite a Cooperstown Hall of Famer, he is a first-ballot "Hall of Very Good" member, and the mixture of longevity as well as both regular season and postseason success has Holliday high up the list here.

Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Walt Jocketty, John Mozeliak made his first aggressive trade for a star-level player at the 2009 trade deadline, acquiring Holliday from the Oakland Athletics. Mozeliak parted ways with Brett Wallace, who was one of the top prospects in all of baseball, along with Clayton Mortensen and Shane Peterson, and the three combined to provide the Athletics with -0.2 fWAR during their time with Oakland.

Holliday, on the other hand, went on an absolute tear after being acquired by St. Louis, slashing .353/.419/.604 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI in just 63 games with the Cardinals. Batting in the same lineup as Albert Pujols, Holliday provided Pujols with the insurance he once had with prime Edmonds and Rolen in the same lineup, propelling the Cardinals to the NL Central title, but fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division Series.

That offseason, Holliday was a free agent for the first time in his career, and it was a real moment of truth for the Cardinals to see if they'd double down on Holliday with a financial commitment. On January 5th, the Scott Boras client agreed to a seven-year, $120 million deal to remain with the Cardinals, which was by far the largest contract handed out that offseason and the biggest free agent deal the Cardinals have given out in franchise history.

Entering his age-30 season during the first year of the deal, the contract easily could have gone south like many big deals signed in player's 30s do, but Holliday had one of the best seasons of his career in 2010, slashing .312/.390/.532 with 28 HR and 103 RBI for the Cardinals. The club missed the playoffs that year and entered a very uncertain 2011 campaign where franchise legend Albert Pujols was in the final year of his deal.

Holliday came up big for the Cardinals that year, posting a .912 OPS and career-high 151 OPS+, helping St. Louis scrape and claw their way to a Wild Card berth and trip to the 2011 postseason. Pujols went down with a fractured wrist during that summer, and while he actually returned rather quickly, Holliday's bat alongside free-agent addition Lance Berkman helped keep the Cardinals afloat while Pujols was out.

Holliday was a key contributor during their incredible World Series run, slashing .294/.419/.412, scoring 13 runs and driving in five on their way to the organization's 11th World Series title. While Pujols, Berkman, and David Freese were the stars of the postseason offensively, Holliday's steady production was needed in order to take down the Phillies, Brewers, and Rangers as underdogs in every series.

Pujols left St. Louis that offseason, and Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa retired, but the Cardinals were able to return to the NLCS the next three years running and make one more World Series appearance in 2013 due to Holliday's bat in the lineup. Over that incredible stretch of deep playoff runs in the post-Pujols era, Holliday had a 136 OPS+ during those three seasons, averaging 25 home runs and 102 RBI per season.

For his eight-year career as a Cardinal, Holliday slashed .293/.380/.494 and actually posted a higher OPS+ (138) during his time with the Cardinals than he did in his six seasons playing at Coors Field with the Rockies (131 OPS+). Holliday ranks 10th all-time among Cardinals in OPS, 10th in SLG, 11th in OBP, and 13th in home runs, and finds himself in the top 25 in categories like XBH, doubles, and AVG.