The St. Louis Cardinals got their biggest need of the off-season taken care of with a pretty amazing deal Monday that sent Shelby Miller to the Atlanta Braves for Gold Glove right-fielder Jason Heyward.
According to stlcardinals.com, “The Cardinals and Braves agreed today on a four-player trade that sends outfielder Jason Heyward and right-handed pitcher Jordan Walden to the Cardinals in exchange for pitchers Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins.”
More from St Louis Cardinals News
- Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
- Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
- How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
- Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
- St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8
Miller is coming off a season in which he regularly struggled to make it deep into games. He was beginning to show real potential to finally keep hitters off balance with the addition of a curve ball to his pitching repertoire. Jenkins, who was coming off a pretty great Arizona Fall League appearance, was beginning to show some promise to advance after several injuries kept him from progressing from the Class A Palm Beach club.
Heyward, who had been mention as a potential target for many a team, is a lefty-hitter with a .271 average this past season with 11 homers and 58 RBI while stealing 20 bases. Heyward finished as a finalist to Yadier Molina in the Rawlings Platinum Glove voting for the best defensive player in the National League.
Walden is a hard-throwing right-hander who led the Los Angeles Angels in 2011 in saves with 32 and was named an American League All-Star that same season when he finished 5th in the junior circuit in saves and complied a 2.98 ERA.
According to a press release from the Cardinals:
"The 6-5, 250-pound Texas native struck out 62 batters in 50.0 innings pitched this past season and he had a 2.88 ERA to go along with three saves. Walden, who has appeared in 50 or more games in three of the past four seasons, led the Braves with 20 Holds in 2014. His career mark is 12-13 with a 3.10 ERA and 38 saves in 231 games pitched, striking out 254 batters in 211.2 IP."
The Cardinals got a glove glove, home run hitting, bases stealing right fielder and a potentially awesome reliever … all for a couple of struggling pitchers, both of whom were prized by the organization at different times.
Wow. John Mozeliak. Wow. That’s an amazing deal.
He actually took care of a couple of needs, all while clearing up some rotation questions for the next few years.
And? I’m pretty excited to see Heyward in a Cardinals jersey!