St. Louis has likely acquired the starting pitcher they needed to secure the division. The Indians and Cardinals completed a trade last night that sent LHP Chuck Finley to the St. Louis for 1B Luis Garcia and a PTBNL.

Even at 39, Finley is maintaining good skill levels. He has a 91:48 K:BB in 105.1 IP with 114 H and 6 HR allowed this season. The only questionable stats here are his BB/9, which also bring down his K:BB. His hits are right on target with a very nice .5 HR/9, and his 7.8 K/9 are impressive. He should also pitch deep into games for the Cardinals. Although he has no complete games, Finley has only twice lasted less than five innings in his starts and only three more of his 18 starts were less than six innings.

The Cardinals weren't looking for an ace, as they have Matt Morris. What they really needed was middle of the rotation starter, who would be able to provide them with consistent, quality innings, and while Bud Smith temporarily rejoined the rotation, the team really needed a left-handed pitcher more than another righty. Finley provides them with all of those components.

I think St. Louis' handling of Smith is largely responsible for his struggles this season; nevertheless he has not pitched well for the team this season. Unfortunately, Smith may once again lose his rotation spot to Andy Benes after this trade, but I'll get back to that after we finishing looking at the components of the deal.

Finley's in the final year of his contract and making $5.25M this season, though he's also reportedly still owed $7M of his $11M signing bonus. The Indians will pick up $1M of his salary this season as well as the signing bonus, so as the season is over half over, the Cardinals are only adding around $1.5M to their payroll, meaning they should have room to acquire another player this season.

St. Louis acquired Luis Garcia from the Red Sox with Rick Asadoorian and Dustin Brisson for Dustin Hermanson this off-season. Boston signed Garcia out of Mexico as a nondrafted free agent in 1996. In 1998, they converted the pitcher into a first baseman. He demonstrated good plate discipline when he first became a position player but has since sacrificed his strike zone judgment for power. Garcia split last season between Sarasota in the A+ Florida State League and AA Trenton in the Eastern League. The Cardinals sent him to their AA EL team at New Haven, where he has 82 H, 16 2B, 1 3B, and 12 HR with a 32:59 BB:K and 3/5 SB% in 308 AB for a .266 BA, .335 OBP, and .442 SLG. Cleveland likes his power, but until he learns to be more patient at the plate, he won't be more than a bench player at best.

The player to be named later will really determine how well the Indians did in this trade. Reportedly, Cleveland will have their choice from one of four players after the season. However, there are few prospects in the St. Louis minors that the Indians could select to complete this deal in a manner that would make them the clear winners of the trade, particularly considering how valuable Finley will be to the Cardinals.

Peter Gammons discussed a possible trade that would have sent Finley to Cincinnati, which likely would have involved better prospects for Cleveland. However, that deal reportedly fell through because the Reds couldn't clear enough payroll and the Indians weren't willing to pick up more of Finley's contract. I believe Cleveland likely made a mistake in not spending the extra money, which couldn't have been much more than a few hundred thousand over what they're paying in the St. Louis deal. The superior prospects would have been worth the extra cash. Similarly, Cincinnati's decision not to add a couple hundred thousand to their payroll indicates they're not willing to spend anything to win the division, even with a new ballpark on the way. The Reds not only would have been adding a quality pitcher to their own staff but would simultaneously have prevented their main competition from acquiring a player they needed.

If the remainder of their rotation had been healthy and effective all season, the Cardinals might have been able to absorb the unfortunate loss of Darryl Kile without substantially downgrading their rotation. However with several members of the St. Louis rotation suffering from injury and/or ineffectiveness, the Cardinals have had to deal with both their grief and a weakened pitching staff. Travis Smith replaced Kile on the roster and has performed admirably for St. Louis, albeit with few strikeouts.

Regrettably, Garrett Stephenson remains on the DL following surgery to repair a torn hamstring and is not expected back until late August. We must also remember that Stephenson was just ten months removed from Tommy John surgery when he returned to the Cardinals this spring, and with this hamstring injury and his back problems earlier in the season, he has not had a lot of time to test his arm.

Woody Williams returned to the disabled list last week after again straining his left oblique. A similar injury caused him to miss over a month of the first half. He likely won't return to the Cardinals until at least mid-August, though St. Louis doesn't expect him to miss more than four weeks.

The Cardinals activated J. D. Drew from the disabled list to fill Williams roster spot. Drew went on the DL shortly before the All-Star break with patellar tendinitis in his right knee. He returned from the DL last week but will need regular rest days throughout the rest of the year and will likely have surgery in the off-season.

When Drew went on the DL, St. Louis called up Mike Coolbaugh and then returned the infielder to the minors on Tuesday in order to clear room on the roster for Andy Benes. Although many thought Benes was headed for retirement due to knee problems earlier this season, he's recovered enough to once again seem mound worthy to the Cardinals.

St. Louis announced today that they will demote Bud Smith in order to make room for Finley on the roster, meaning that Bud has once again lost his roster spot to Benes, as he did in Spring Training. Despite Smith's poor performance this season, there is still no reason for the Cardinals to favor Benes. Hopefully he won't be in the rotation long enough to cause substantial damage. If it looks like Stephenson and Williams will be out beyond mid-August, then the Cardinals should definitely continue to pursue adding yet another starter via trade.

Aside from looking into another starter, St. Louis may have the payroll room to add Scott Rolen because they spent so little in adding Finley. The Phillies might also make the deal easier by covering some of Rolen's contract themselves if the package is nice enough. The Cardinals admittedly have one of the shallowest farm systems in the majors. However, they have sufficient prospects to put together a nice offer.

Philadelphia is likely looking for right-handed relief in addition to a couple high-upside prospects. St. Louis can offer Gene Stechshulte or Dave Veres as major league ready righty relief, and Veres' expensive contract would help balance the salaries involved. Redbirds' top pitching prospects Jimmy Journell and Josh Pearce are both injured, making them less attractive as trade bait, but St. Louis shouldn't hesitate to deal them if they can receive close to value. Other minor league pitchers that might interest Philadelphia include right-handed pitchers Matt Duff, Cheyenne Janke, Scotty Layfield, and Jeremy Cummings at AA, Dan Haren at A+, or LHP Les Walrond at AAA.

The Phillies will probably want at least one position prospect. Potential targets include OF Dee Haynes and CR John Gall at AA, OF Christopher Morris at A+, as well as Asadoorian and 2B Shaun Boyd at A-ball.

If Philadelphia wants a major league position player, the Cardinals can afford to deal Placido Polanco, though that should reduce the quality of the minor leaguers they include. Even with his injury problems, St. Louis shouldn't trade Drew as they need him in the outfield. Considering Rick Ankiel's injury and ineffectiveness problems, as well as the Cardinals continued snubbing of Bud Smith, both should be available in trade. I still think that each has substantial future potential and will likely blossom if traded, but St. Louis can afford to make the deal to win now. Additionally, St. Louis is close enough to Ohio that Rolen would probably sign an extension with the Cardinals. I'm not certain the division's sealed, but St. Louis is a lot closer to the pennant today than they were a week ago and the Cardinals are in a position to add to their strength, building a team worthy of the World Series.