St. Louis Cardinals Acquire Shortstop Khalil Greene

The St. Louis Cardinals traded for shortstop Khalil Greene from the San Diego Padres in exchange for relief pitcher Mark Worrell and a player to be named later. This is a fantastic acquisition for the Cardinals, who were struggling finding replacement-level kind of players for their middle infield.

The Padres, who had an absolutely terrible season last year playing in the National League West, are trading away a player who clearly had a down year in 2008 (in comparison to his 2007). The Cardinals desperately need an upgrade at shortstop, and Greene should be a worthwhile risk that could pay off in a big way.

San Diego's Petco Park is one of the ballparks that favors pitchers much more than hitters, so Greene should be able to capitalize on his above-average power bat. He won't hit 27 home runs again, but he should come close to 15. Greene has also never hit for much of a batting average, and that will actually not improve very much with his move to his new ballpark. After three straight years of making contact at a 79% rate, he actually dropped a stunning 5% to a 74% contact rate last year. Is this just an outlier, or are his skills actually diminishing? Only time will tell.

The Cardinals did not give up much to get Greene, so even if Greene ends up being a solid platoon player, it seems that they still came out on top of this deal. He should be able to contribute more offensively than former shortstop Cesar Izturis, and will also provide a great mid-aged (29) presence in their locker room. Though one shouldn't expect Greene to repeat his career year from 2007, I really like this move from Cardinals GM John Mozeliak. In a free agent market that hasn't significantly moved to date, the Cardinals seem pro-active in going out to get the players they need for success.

More info: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?playerId=5797