The Cardinals have acquired 32-year old righty starting pitcher Jake Westbrook (from the Indians) and 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Nicolas Greenwood (from the Padres) for 32-year old righty swinging RF Ryan Ludwick (going to the Padres). The Padres have also sent 24-year old righty starting pitcher Corey Kluber to the Indians to complete this trade. Westbrook will step right into the #4 spot in the Cardinals starting rotation. He started 21 games for the Indians this year and he was 6-7 with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. He has now pitched in 221 games (181 starts) in his 10 years in the majors and he is 69-71 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Nicolas Greenwood has pitched in 21 games (17 starts) in A-ball this season for the Padres and he is 4-4 with 1 save, a 4.15 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. He has now pitched in 41 games (26 starts) in his minor league career and he is 8-5 with 6 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP.

32-year old Ryan Ludwick is off to S.D. He played in 77 games for the Cardinals this year and he was 79 of 281 (.281 avg, .827 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 11 homers and 43 RBIs. Ludwick played in 488 games in his four years for the Cardinals and he was 450 of 1,608 (.280 avg, .857 OPS) with 253 runs scored, 84 homers, 305 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Ludwick was a solid player for the Cardinals but rookie Jon Jay was stealing at bats from him. Jay has played in 48 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 44 of 111 (.396 avg, 1.051 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 3 homers and 12 RBIs.

It will be up to Jake Westbrook and Jon Jay to make this trade a good one for the Cardinals.

23-year old lefty starting pitcher Jaime Garcia would get my vote for the Rookie of the Year Award in the N.L. if the season ended today. Garcia has started 19 games this season for the Cardinals and he is 9-4 with a 2.21 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He has only given up 97 hits in 110 innings pitched this season but he has been far from perfect as he has walked 43 batters this year. Garcia has really stepped up for the Cardinals this year as he gives them a third big time starting pitcher behind Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals need him to keep up the good work as they are in a dogfight in the N.L. Central with the Cincinnati Reds.

The Cardinals have big problems at the back end of the starting rotation. With that in mind I think the Cardinals should go after Ben Sheets of the A’s. He is throwing the ball well and I think he would be better in the N.L. I would talk the A’s into paying Sheets the rest of the year and for that I would give them 25-year old righty swinging 3B Allen Craig and 26-year old righty swinging shortstop Tyler Greene. I know that Billy Beane (the A’s GM) would make that deal as Craig is his type of player. The Cardinals just need to go out and make this kind of deal happen because the Reds are the real deal.

UPDATE: (7/26/2010) - You can forget about Ben Sheets who has been placed on the D.L. with a elbow injury.

25-year old righty starting pitcher Brandon Dickson was not one of the Cardinals’ top prospects heading into this season. That might be why he still hasn’t got a chance with them this year despite a huge need at the back end of the rotation. Dickson has pitched in 19 games (18 starts) in AAA-ball for the Cardinals this year and he is 9-6 with a 3.16 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. He has given up 118 hits in 111 innings this season so he does pitch to contact. It will be interesting to see if the Cardinals keep passing Dickson over this year or if they give him a chance to show what he can do.

The Cardinals have placed 28-year old righty swinging outfielder Nick Stavinoha on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder strain. Stavinoha has played in 57 games for the Cardinals this season and he is 23 of 90 (.256 avg, .639 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. The Cardinals have called up 25-year old righty swinging 3B/OF Allen Craig to replace Stavinoha on the active roster. Craig played in 9 games for the Cardinals earlier this year and he was 1 of 21 (.048 avg, .173 OPS) with 2 RBIs. The Cardinals hope he’ll be better this time around as he was hitting well in AAA. Craig has played in 67 games in AAA-ball this year and he was 77 of 250 (.308 avg, .890 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 11 homers and 65 RBIs.