That was a rough loss yesterday, but it was Johan Santana that ultimately did us in. Kyle Lohse was going to have to pitch a gem to stay in the game, and, unfortunately, he had one of his worst outings of the year. We live to fight another day. Atlanta has played nearly as bad as we have over the past 10 games, so I'm a bit more optimistic about this series.

Chris Carpenter is starting Wednesday. Adam Wainwright is throwing curveballs. Anthony Reyes was traded. A lot has happened over the weekend, but I see one more move that would cap the weekend's activity: get George Sherrill.

The Cardinals have been linked to the lefthanded Orioles reliever for over two weeks now. We were actively scouting Sherrill on the 23rd, and every report since then has mentioned the Cardinals as a potential Sherrill suitor. The interest is definitely there, now it's a matter of whether the Cardinals can fulfill the "two or three prospects" asking price that the O's are said to be demanding.

Sherrill makes sense for the Cardinals for three main reasons:

1.) He's under club control until 2010. That means he'll be here when the Colby Rasmus and possibly Brett Wallace saga begins, when the Cardinals are truly expected to contend. He isn't a rent-a-player like CC Sabathia, which gives you the chance to get your George Sherrill jersey-shirt without having to worry that he'll be gone at the end of the year. As odd as it may seem to say about a 31-year-old player, trading for George would be an investment for the future, which is what we all want when trading prospects.

2.) He's lefthanded. You only have to be a casual Cardinals fan to know that lefthanded relief has stunk this year. George shores up a problem position for now and future years. The Cardinals have very little lefthanded reliever depth in the farm system, meaning that we'd have to go outside the organization to find a another Ron Villone for our lefthanded relief. George is holding lefthanded batters to a .163/.259/.245 line this season, and that line goes down to .151/.220/.259 over the past three years. He knows how to get lefties out, and he could do it for us for the next 2 and a half seasons.

3.) He's capable of closing. The Cardinals have a dilemma when it comes to closers. We all know that. George would be able to close some games in a closer-by-committee role with Ryan Franklin and Kyle McClellan. Getting Sherrill means you don't have to put Adam Wainwright in the bullpen, allowing him to start alongside Chris Carpenter and Kyle Lohse. Most importantly, he gives this team flexibility to decide what they want to do with Wainwright instead of letting the circumstances determine it.

At Viva El Birdos, LBoros tosses up a Jon Jay/Chris Perez/Clayton Mortensen trade proposal for Brian Fuentes, the other lefthanded reliever the Cardinals are said to be interested in. The difference between Fuentes and Sherrill is that Brian is a free agent at the end of the season, making him less valuable to the Rockies than Sherrill is to the Orioles. The Orioles have been notoriously hard to deal with in the past as well (look up Brian Roberts on MLB Trade Rumors to see some evidence).

So, what do the Cardinals give up for Sherrill? I proposed an Anthony Reyes/Tyler Greene/Jess Todd package on Saturday, but that was made moot by the Reyes trade. I still think Tyler Greene would be a good piece to put in, as the Orioles are looking for a shortstop and Greene has really turned up his game lately in Double-A Springfield. The Cardinals have Pete Kozma and Nico Vasquez not too far behind him, so he's pretty expendable in our system. Another expendable prospect, Allen Craig, has good numbers and a good glove at third base. There have been rumblings that perhaps he could make a move to second base, but those are just rumblings for now. I view Craig as a B prospect and Greene, thanks to his home run power at Springfield, as a B- prospect. As for the last prospect, I think it's got to be a pitcher. Names like Mitch Boggs, Adam Ottavino, Clayton Mortensen, and Tyler Herron come to mind. I think the Orioles would probably value a guy like Mortensen because he has the potential to make an impact as early as next year and has a higher ceiling than Mitch Boggs. Mortensen is a B prospect, with the potential to be a B+.

Mortensen/Craig/Greene is the best offer I would make to the Orioles. Based off other trade discussions, I'm not sure they would even accept that trade. They'd be stupid not to, as all three could end up starting on the major league roster in the next two years. As for the Cardinals, I think they have enough depth at all three positions to get Sherrill, who would turn lefthanded relief into a strength over the next two and a half years.

Is that too much to give up? Scale it down and comment with your proposal!