Matt Holliday Traded To St. Louis Cardinals

Albert Pujols will finally get some help behind him.

The St.Louis Cardinals have dealt prospects Brett Wallace, outfielder Shane Peterson, and righty pitcher Clayton Mortenson, to acquire left fielder Matt Holliday.

Holliday, who is 29 years old, becomes a free agent after this season. He’s currently batting .286 with 11 homers and 54 RBI; however, he has been on a hot streak batting .344 in the month of July.

Pujols leads the league in intentional walks, but now the Cardinals have an All-Star caliber cleanup hitter to provide some protection for Pujols.

As you may remember, the Oakland Athletics acquired Holliday in hopes of turning around their offense, and possibly auctioning off one of the hottest bats at the time of the deadline. However, Holliday struggled and rumors surfaced that he didn’t like the environment in Oakland, and wanted to go to a more passionate environment like St. Louis.

In my opinion, both teams got what they wanted.

The Cardinals got a hot bat that will provide protection for the best hitter in the game, and possibly put them over the top without giving up Colby Rasmus, whose name surfaced in trade rumors. The Oakland A’s get Brett Wallace, a young third baseman ranked as the 21st prospect in the country by Baseball America.

This deal gives both teams what they wanted and further strengthens the Cardinals in the NL Central. The Cardinals maintain a game and a half lead over the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, this deal certainly makes them the favorite in the tight NL Central.