The Cardinals have traded for San Diego shortstop Khalil Greene, who's due to make $6.5 million in the final year of his contract. No word on who the two pitching prospects we had to give up were, but they aren't expected to be anyone substantial, as the Padres have been hoping to dump the struggling Greene for a while now.
Deep down inside, I always thought that Khalil would make his way to St. Louis somehow, and now we see that come to fruition on the brink of the winter meetings. Greene has terrible on-base skills, an up-and-down glove, and occasional power that only partially makes up for his propensity to strike out. Objectively speaking, Greene is hardly an improvement over any of the various shortstops we've had the past five years. Subjectively, he may be the best we could do in our quest to find a veteran shortstop capable of adding some more offensive production. Sure, guys like Brent Lillibridge, Ben Zobrist, and Sean Rodriguez are out there, presumed better options than a guy with .260 OBP and .599 OPS, but this administration has rarely dealt for youth in such a blatant manner, so why would we expect them to now?
I'm not a fan of this deal, as it straps the Cardinals with a roster spot and a $6.5 million price tag, but if it allows them to continue talks for an impact bat or another starting pitcher, I can live with it. Just don't look at Khalil Greene's power numbers and expect him to become some form of legitimate "protection" in the lineup. I'd be more worried about him becoming a vacuum in the 6 or 7 spot if anything.
Full stats on Greene can be found here. He flies out a lot - 47.6% of the time. Pujols hits fly balls 37.4% of the time, and Cesar Izturis had a 31.2 FB%, for what it's worth.
Further Reading:
STLToday
MLB Trade Rumors
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