The Cardinals have traded St. Louis native and World Series MVP David Freese to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for center fielder Peter Bourjos.

The Cardinals also received Class AA outfielder Randal Grichuk in the deal, and sent reliever Fernando Salas to the Angels.

Freese, 30, would fill the Angels' need for a starting third baseman. The Cardinals have the option of moving Matt Carpenter to third base and relying on rookie Kolten Wong at second base.
Freese had a trying and inconsistent season that saw his power and production drop from career highs set in 2012. Arbitration-eligible for a second time, Freese would have been a due a raise from his $3.15-million salary in 2013.

Moves like this are why the Cardinals are good and the Angels are not.

I liked it a whole lot better when we only had to see that guy during interleague play. Not looking forward to being reminded of that World Series a lot more frequently now.

The Angels scare me because of their money.

But lordy they are bad at this whole trading and free agency thing.

Well boujous sucks balls so there's a good thing the angels did

Bourjos' future with the Angels was doomed when not only JB Shuck, but also Kole Calhoun got promoted and outperformed Bourjos.

Bourjos will probably bounce back to 2011 form and become an MVP once he's given some of that St. Louis riverfront joojoo water, but keeping the Bourjos of the past 2 seasons ain't worth it compared to what Freese's numbers suggest he'll be worth to the Angels.

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 11/22/2013 5:22p).]

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keeping the Bourjos of the past 2 seasons ain't worth it compared to what Freese's numbers suggest he'll be worth to the Angels.

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According to what projections?

According to my "projections." What's it to you?

As of now, they've got arguably the best player in baseball in Mike Trout, Josh Hamilton (whose contract sucks and isn't going anywhere whether you agree or not he outperformed Bourjos last year and in year's past), and Kole Calhoun and J.B. Shuck who both came up and arguably outperformed or at least matched not only what Bourjos did last year, but their performance would have matched or outperformed 2 of Bourjos' other 3 seasons in which he middled around as a mediocre to bad batsman...They all play outfield positions.

Mark Trumbow can also play the outfield and they've got Colin Cowgill, who I wouldn't have much hope for, but also arguably outperformed Bourjos.

I think going into the day their 3rd baseman was going to be some kid named Luis Jimenez or maybe Andrew Romine if he's still in their organization?

They're not really projections, just comments on IF Bourjos would have played, for the Angels, like he's played 3 out of his 4 seasons rather than like he played in 2011.

Like I said, for all I or anyone knows, that joojoo water will catch hold.

(Its kind of a Chris Davis situation.)

p.s. Angels bullpen kind of sucked last year, so maybe Salas helps there...

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 11/22/2013 5:46p).]

But Chris Davis never came close to showing what Bourjos has.

I agree they needed to trade him. They just could have done better.

Fangraphs says it better than I could, so I'll just post a quote from their writeup I just read.

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It’s hard to see any area where Freese is better than Bourjos. This trade will be sold as speed-and-defense for power, but Bourjos actually has a higher career Isolated Slugging mark than Freese does. This is an average hitting elite defender for a slightly above average hitting meh defender, only the meh defender costs more and is closer to the end of his career.

Moves like this are why the Cardinals are one of the best run organizations in baseball. They get younger, cut costs, set up their team for the future, and get the better player in return. Oh, and they got the Angels to throw in a prospect, even if not a very good one, just for the fun of it. The Indians spent $48 million to buy this skillset in an aging Michael Bourn last winter, but the Cardinals figured out how to turn an aging third baseman coming off a bad year into a nearly free version of the same thing.

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I agree they needed to trade him. They just could have done better.

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If there are 3rd baseman out there with more isolated slugging than David Freese who were available for Peter Bourjos and a throw away propsect, then I agree, they should have gone for it.

That wasn't Mr. Cameron's most well written article, by the way. He could have done better. (I read it earlier today)

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 11/22/2013 6:14p).]

Anyone think this was purely a reaction to the Rangers trading Kinsler\Fielder?

No

That trade was talked about for a long, long time.

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That trade was talked about for a long, long time.

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And that was kind of the point. We knew Anaheim was going to trade an outfielder. It just seemed timing wise like the Owner wanted a response to the Kinsler\Fielder trade.

We've seen it before from him... I believe the Napoli trade was that way. "Just get it done."

You kind of answered your own question- no, it wasn't purely a reaction to the Kinsler trade.

I'm not privy to what was and wasn't being discussed regarding these guys, but the timing was such that both had had an opportunity to see the free agent market form before they pulled the trigger.

It happens every year. Free agency opens up, a few weeks in you get a flurry of trades.

We've seen that before from the Angels.

November 30, 2011- Tyler Chatwood for Chris Ianneta. Dec 3- Jeff Mathis for Brad Mills

Oct 31, 2012- Ervin Santana for Brandon Sisk, Nov 30- Jordan Walden for Tommy Hanson

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 11/25/2013 7:54p).]

This was much more about the Cards wanting Peralta; not the Fielder trade.