The Cardinals have sent 24-year old righty reliever Luke Gregerson for the Padres to complete the Khalil Greene trade. He pitched in 57 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 7-6 with 10 saves, a 3.35 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. This will likely help out Gregerson’s career as he might get a shot to pitch in the majors this season with the Padres. If he had stayed with the Cardinals he would have needed a large rash of injuries to get a shot.

32-year old righty swinging 3B Troy Glaus will miss at least the first month of the 2009 season and that will hurt the Cardinals….especially on defense. Glaus only made 7 errors in 146 games last season at 3B while showing good range. Glaus played in 151 games overall for the Cardinals last season and he was 147 for 544 (.270 avg, .855 OPS) with 69 runs scored, 27 homers and 99 RBIs. Look for Glaus to have another good season when he gets fully healthy.

The Cardinals are seriously considering using 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Joe Mather at 3B until Glaus can return to action. Mather will likely be a terrible defensive 3B but he can hit the baseball. He played in 54 games for the Cardinals last season in which he was 32 for 133 (.241 avg, .780 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 8 homers and 18 RBIs. He also played in 59 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 64 for 211 (.303 avg, 1.041 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 17 homers, 41 RBIs and 7 stolen bases.

25-year old righty swinging David Freese could also get a shot to replace Glaus. He is the #9 prospect in the Cardinals’ minor league system according to Baseball America. Freese played in 131 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 142 for 464 (.306 avg, .911 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 26 homers, 91 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The money here is on Freese to win the starting job while Glaus is out because he’s a much better defender at 3B than Mather likely will ever be.

Brendan Ryan is the long shot here. He played in 5 games at 3B last season for the Cardinals making 1 error while showing outstanding range. He has now power at all so he would be a liability for the Cardinals at the hot corner.

27-year old righty swinging Brian Barden played in 9 games for the Cardinals last season in which he was 2 for 9 (.222 avg, .444 OPS) with 1 RBI. He also played in 103 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 117 for 411 (.285 avg, .770 OPS) with 60 runs scored, 9 homers and 35 RBIs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B-

29-year old righty swinging shortstop Khalil Greene was brought in over the winter in a trade with the Padres and he will start at SS in 2009 for the Cardinals. He played in 105 games for the Padres last season and he was 83 for 389 (.213 avg, .599 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 10 homers, 35 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Greene has played in 660 games in his major league career and he has a batting average of .248 with a .731 OPS and those are the kind of numbers the Cardinals are expecting out of him in 2009. Greene should benefit from not playing half of his games at Petco Park in San Diego as he only had 34 homers at home as a Padre but he had 50 homers on the road. Greene only made 8 errors in 105 games at shortstop last season for the Padres but he showed below average range. This was a good addition for the Cardinals for the 2009 season.

Brendan Ryan will be the top backup for Greene. He played in 40 games at shortstop for the Cardinals last season and he only made 1 error there while showing good range.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: B

The Cardinals have signed 31-year old lefty reliever Dennys Reyes to a 2-year deal. Reyes pitched in 75 games (0 starts) last season for the Twins and he was 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. This was a great signing for the Cardinals as Reyes will be the top lefty out of the pen for them in 2009. Reyes has now pitched in 535 games (40 starts) in his major league career and he is 32-32 with 2 saves, a 4.28 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. He has been much better since converting to relief pitching.

The St. Louis Cardinals watched Aaron Miles leave as a free agent and they released Adam Kennedy which means they will have a new look at 2B this season. The favorite to win the starting job was an outfielder last season for the Cardinals. He is Skip Schumaker the 29-year old lefty swinger who had a solid season with the bat for the Cardinals in 2008. Schumaker played in 153 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 163 for 540 (.302 avg, .765 OPS) with 87 runs scored, 8 homers, 46 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Schumaker projects as a below average 2B for 2009 but maybe his work ethic will lead to a defensive surprise for the Cardinals.

26-year old righty swinging Brendan Ryan will likely battle Schumaker this spring but he’s more likely to be a utility player. Ryan played in 80 games for the Cardinals last season and he was 48 for 197 (.244 avg, .596 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Ryan only made one error in 23 games for the Cardinals at 2B last season but his range was simply pathetic.

29-year old lefty swinging Joe Thurston will battle Ryan for a job on the bench. He is the classic AAAA-player…..too good for AAA but not good enough for the majors. It will be interesting to see if he can prove that theory wrong with the Cardinals this season. Thurston played in 4 games for the Red Sox last season and he was 0 for 8 (.000 avg). Thurston also played in 126 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 160 for 507 (.316 avg, .823 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 11 homers, 64 RBIs and 19 stolen bases.

25-year old righty swinging Jarrett Hoffpauir will also get to show what he can do this spring. Hoffpauir played in 121 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 112 for 410 (.273 avg, .735 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 4 homers and 45 RBIs. He is a longshot to win a job on the bench in spring training.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON: C-