Steve Cishek to Cardinals: Latest Trade Details, Comments and Reaction

In an effort to bolster their bullpen down the stretch, the St. Louis Cardinals have acquired Steve Cishek from the Miami Marlins.

Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald first reported the Cardinals and Marlins were closing in on a deal involving Cishek. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed the report.

The Marlins announced the acquisition of relief pitcher Kyle Barraclough in return for Cishek. Barraclough had a 2.27 ERA and 12 saves combined in Single-A and Double-A this season.

There aren't a lot of problem areas for the Cardinals, who are a major league-best 61-34 entering play Friday. The bullpen wouldn't seem to be an area the team needed to address, as that group owns the second-best ERA in baseball at 2.37.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post did offer a good reason why the Cardinals would be making a move to acquire a reliever at this point:

Cishek isn't an impact arm who will pitch high-leverage innings for the Cardinals. He owns a 4.50 ERA with 37 hits allowed, 28 strikeouts and 14 walks in 32 innings in 2015, but those numbers don't line up with his career marks.

ERA	ERA+	WHIP	K/9 IP
2.86	137	1.222	9.7

The 29-year-old has been particularly effective against right-handed hitters throughout his career, limiting them to a .587 OPS since debuting in 2010.

No team is positioned as well as the Cardinals heading into the final two months of the regular season. They are deep in the starting rotation, even with the loss of Adam Wainwright, and in the lineup. They also have a powerful relief corps led by Trevor Rosenthal and Kevin Siegrist.

Being able to give some of those guys a break in August and September, without sacrificing wins, will only make St. Louis better prepared for another deep October run. Cishek won't bring headlines to the Cardinals, but he's a perfect fit for what the team needs right now.

Stats via Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com