The St. Louis Cardinals have traded RHP Rob Kaminsky to the Cleveland Indians for 1B/OF Brandon Moss.
Kaminsky is currently ranked #88 in the list of best overall MLB prospects according to MLB.com. Brandon Moss is a 1X All-Star and a career .243 hitter with 106 HRs and a 7.0 oWAR over 7+ seasons.
In 375 plate appearances this season, Moss is batting .219 with 15 HRs and a 0.1 oWAR.
Many, many people do not like this trade for the Cardinals. A smattering, so you get the idea:
This Kaminsky-for-Moss trade is a flat-out heist for the @Indians. Wow. @Cardinals
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 30, 2015
https://twitter.com/Total_CardsMove/status/626743221637529600
More worried about what Brandon Moss can do than Cardinals losing Rob Kaminsky. Moss has really struggled since last year's hip injury.
— Drew Silva (@drewsilv) July 30, 2015
Deep breaths. In. Out. Slowly.
Here are some things to consider:
1) Kaminsky is still very young. He’s highly rated and talented, but he’s still an A ball pitcher at this point in his career. There’s no guarantee he’s going to be a Major League contributor, let alone a star. It’s hard becoming an MLB player.
If you don’t believe me, pick any year and look up the 1st round of the MLB Draft and see how many names you recognize. It will be fewer than you expected. Here’s 2003.
2) I know in the age of scorching hot takes – where pumping a Twitter feed through a fire hose into the sun might help with global warming – this might make me an old-timey fuddy duddy… but don’t the Cardinals get a bit of leeway here?
Yes – this trade could be a terrible one 5 years from now. But it also might not be either. They’ve done pretty OK the past 20 years, maybe they’ve earned some trust.
3) The trade deadline hasn’t passed. Let’s let’s see if this is it or if this was part of another plan.
4) The Cardinals just signed a BILLION dollar plus TV deal this AM. It’s not immediately clear how this infusion of money will change the modus operandi of the front office. But it it very reasonable to say that the Cardinals now have the ability to take bigger swings more often on moves.
Was any of this money considered when making this particular trade? We’ll never know. What we do know is that if Brandon Moss is a complete bust, the Cardinals will be OK. They can afford both Wacha and Martinez’s next contracts.
Feel better?
Probably not.
Just take solace in knowing that nothing is guaranteed and that your favorite team is trying to do something.
The right thing? Maybe. Maybe not. But this current lineup needed some fresh blood and Moss will provide it.
He can’t possibly be any worse than what the Cardinals have been showcasing the past couple of nights.
That is a fact.
Photo: Fox Sports
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