I never did understand why the Cubs parted ways with their valuable spark plug Mark DeRosa in the off season. As other players can fill the void, but You win With Mark DeRosa . At first look, it seemed the Cubs were dumping DeRosa’s 5.5 million salary. However, the Cubs GM Hendry has admitted in recent interviews that he was attempting to reduce the number of right handed bats in the cubs lineup : Soriano – R, D. Lee – R, Theriot – R, Soto – R, A. Ramirez – R
I guess the lack of a left handed bat it what sent DeRosa packing. The number of times Ramirez has gotten hurt over the past few years in reason enough to keep DeRosa around as the ball club was not helped in any way with the players the recieved from the Indians for DeRosa.
As a club, the Cardinals always bring in that solid veteran that helps them go over the top and win the division title. This deal giving up a former #1 pick Chris Perez out of the University of Miami who throws in the high 90s is a decent player the Tribe recieved. But in this case, Ryan Franklin is the defacto closer and with another hard thrower in Jason Motte, this was a deal the Cardinals could afford to make.
Mark DeRosa is signed only for the season. However, they have had the void at third base for much of the season, and this will certainly solidify their infield. DeRosa can fill in all across the field, and his 50 RBIs and 13 HRs will fill in nicely.
The Indians did pretty well as far as value, but not as fit. With Kerry Wood signed in the off season as the closer, Perez will have to wait his turn and that could be a while. For now, he is just another arm for the bullpen. This signals that the Indians are throwing in the towl and building for 2010 and beyond.
