There’s little doubt that DeRosa will improve our offensive production, but will it be as an infielder or an outfielder? The improvement will happen either way, but his numbers are not as impressive if he’s mostly an outfielder. If he’s mostly an infielder, which would be my guess, then that means we still have Duncan under-performing in the outfield.

We can only guess whether Ankiel, Ludwick or Duncan will ever start hitting again, but I don’t see how anyone could argue that the first two don’t deserve more time over Duncan, who is halfway through his second season of lackluster performance and has never actually been a steady player during his tenure in STL.

1. Even with the loss to the Twins today, the Cards are only 1 game behind the Brewers(honestly I can’t believe this but it’s the truth) AND Carpenter looks healthy now. You have to take a chance when he can pitch. I think the odds are pretty high that next year he would go back to the DL and miss significant time. The team obviously needed some reinforcements; while DeRosa isn’t a superstar, he is a good fit on the team with his versatility.

2. One reliever’s contributiuon is not that much; good relievers like Hideki Okajima Heath Bell, and Will Ohman were worth aroud 1 WAR each last season. Mariano Rivera was worth 3.1 WAR last season, but I highly doubt Chris Perez would be that good some day. Yes, maybe Perez had the most upside in our RH reliever prospects, but I think the actual difference would be pretty small between Perez and other guys, say Todd.

3. The avg fastball velocity of Perez dropped about 2 mphs in this season. His top end velocity also dropped significantly. Given his command struggle with the velocity drop, I’m afraid that there might a problem in his throwing arm.

There is an X factor: who is PTBNL. If it’s Todd or Samuel, I would be pissed; if it’s a grade C or lower prospect, I would like this trade more.

Perez’ ankle was bothersome in the off season and through spring. Surgery is a distinct possibility. He still has trouble finding his control. Yes he is a potential closer prospect, But I’m not at all confident he will reach his peak.

Kudos that Mo/Lunhow were finally were willing to trade from prospect strength to help the big club now. The deal makes sense.

And the Cardinals think so highly of him that he’s pitched while the team was ahead twice this month. Both times the Cardinals were leading 10-4.

If the team needs a RH reliever next season, put some names in a hat and pull one out. Bam. They’ve just compensated for Chris Perez.

and if they really did give up Todd or Samuel, MO isn’t half the GM he keeps telling everyone he is.