Cardinals History: The Cardinals traded a Hall of Famer and got better

The 2007 season for the St. Louis Cardinals brought fans disappointment and heartbreak. And the 2007 off-season brought them a change in the front office and a change at who manned the hot corner in St. Louis.

After the 2006 Cardinals team won the franchise's 10th championship, the Cardinals were stuck in a World Series hangover in 2007, losing 84 games, and ending their streak of 7 consecutive winning seasons. A big part of the majority of those winning seasons was because of the middle of the Cardinals lineup, more known as the “MV3“ Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen. 

After a disheartening 2007 campaign, John Mozeliak, who was promoted to GM in October of ‘07 after Walt Jocketty was fired, decided to break up the Cardinals' big three It started in December when Jim Edmonds was traded to the Padres for minor leaguer David Freese, and then the following month the Cardinals shipped Scott Rolen to the Blue Jays for Troy Glaus one for one after Rolen requested a trade.

The Cardinals traded future Hall of Famer Scott Rolen and actually managed to get better

It was an interesting trade to grasp at first, two third basemen who were coming off down seasons riddled with injuries. Rolen was the better defensive third baseman, but Glaus was a power-hitting slugger, something Rolen lost in his final seasons in St. Louis (only 35 home runs in his last three seasons), plus Glaus was two years younger. And there was friction between Rolen and Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa dating back to the 2006 Postseason when LaRussa benched Rolen, so this trade seemed to be the change of scenery that Rolen needed, and Troy Glaus was going to be his replacement at third base for the Cardinals.

This trade would pay immediate dividends for the Cardinals. Troy Glaus slid in perfectly in the Cardinals lineup hitting behind Pujols, as he had a .270/.372/.483 slash line, with 27 home runs, 61 extra-base hits, and 99 RBI in 151 games. Rolen did not have the same production in Toronto. In 2008 he had a .262/.349/.431 slash line with 11 home runs and 50 RBI in 115 games. Glaus and Rolen had opposite seasons in 2009, Rolen hit .320 with the Jays before he was traded to the Reds mid-season which is where he ended his career. But Glaus was limited to just 14 games due to arthroscopic shoulder surgery. 

Despite how it ended with Glaus in St. Louis, the Cardinals got better after trading Rolen. The Cardinals got solid production from Glaus at the plate in 2008, something they didn’t get much of from Rolen in his last three seasons in St. Louis due to injuries, but they were able to get some value for him despite his regression. 

The Rolen trade also ended up paying dividends for the Cardinals in the future as well, because of the Jim Edmonds trade. Moving Rolen and the injury to Glaus opened the door for David Freese to man third base for the Cardinals, and 2 years later he led the Cardinals to an improbable World Series title in 2011, having one of the most remarkable postseasons in baseball history.