Once the four-way deal was announced on Sunday, a cascade of other trades seemed to follow. San Diego traded RHP Brett Tomko to the Cardinals for RHP Luther Hackman and a player to be named later.

The Padres were determined to trade Tomko going into the Winter Meetings, as he's arbitration eligible this season, and they didn't want to pay the additional $2M he'll likely make in 2003. Dealing him also opens up another spot in the San Diego rotation for one of their young pitchers.

St. Louis is attempting to avoid the rotation problems they experienced last year. Tomko isn't a particularly dominant pitcher and he has some trouble with homers. However, the 29-year-old put together a fairly solid season last year, and he should provide the Cardinals with an innings eater for the middle of the rotation.

Hackman earned attention last season, because with their rotation in tatters they called upon him to start several of the games they covered with a collection of relievers rather than a traditional starting pitcher. While that type of flexibility might come in handy for San Diego if they start to have some of the troubles they experienced last year, there's little to like in the 28-year-old's skill set.

Trading Hackman leaves St. Louis short yet another right-handed reliever with only closer Jason Isringhausen and setup man Mike Crudale established in the pen. However, that problem should be much easier to correct than their starter shortage.

Due to roster restrictions surrounding the Rule 5 draft, the minor leaguer involved couldn't be named on Saturday, but we now know the player to be named later is RHP Mike Wodnicki. St. Louis drafted Wodnicki out of Stanford University in the 16th round of the 2001 draft. He finished out that season in the Short-season New York-Pennsylvania league and advanced to A Peoria in the Midwest league in 2002. The 22-year-old compiled an impressive 131:37 K:BB with 144 H and 16 HR allowed in 154.2 IP for a 3.49 ERA this past year and I think he shows promise. Nevertheless, he was old for his league, so we won't really know his potential until he's faced with AA competition this season.

Overall, I don't think the Padres received a great package for Tomko. However given the generally depressed market and the fact everyone knew they had no intention of retaining him, the deal looks fairly even.

St. Louis has also signed RHP Chris Carpenter to add some future depth to the rotation. While Carpenter underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in September and likely won't be ready for the start of the season, he may recover in time to pitch in the second half and he should be fine for 2004. Carpenter agreed to a one-year $300,000 contract that includes a $2M option for 2004 with a $200,000 buyout. He'll receive an additional $200,000 if he's on the active roster in 2003 and has a chance to earn an up to $2M in performance bonuses.

Although he has some control problems, Carpenter is an acceptable pitcher to have on the staff as a middle or bottom of the rotation pitcher. If he's healthy, the 27-year-old certainly should earn his salary, and the contract is structured to give the Cardinals an out if he fails to recover.

While as mentioned the right side of the pen needs attention, St. Louis secured their left-handed relief by re-signing Jeff Fassero to a one-year, $1.5M contract with an option for 2004. Fassero will slot behind Steve Kline as the Cardinals second lefty. I wasn't particularly pleased when St. Louis acquired the 39-year-old last season. Nevertheless, LaRussa did a much better job of utilizing his skills than the Cubs' managers, so he was an asset to the team. Provided he remains in a limited role, he should be able to extend his late season performance through 2003. However, I still think this likely was a mistake on the Cardinals' part, as they probably could have found a minimum wage pitcher to provide them with the same service.

In addition to attending to their pitching, St. Louis has also actively tended to the other side of the ball. The Cardinals signed C-R Joe Girardi to a one-year, $720,000 contract this week, as a back-up for Mike Matheny. The 38-year-old's offensive skills are failing with age, but St. Louis is really paying for a clubhouse influence and a veteran presence.

I was somewhat surprised when the Cardinals were first mentioned as a potential destination for Girardi, because they'd only recently signed C-R Steve Torrealba to a one-year major league deal. Steve doesn't have quite the offensive potential of his brother Yorvit, but the 24-year-old would have provided St. Louis with a suitable back-up.

Instead the Cardinals chose to acquire an old catcher, who's begun to show his age in the form of injury problems. Barring injury, Matheny and Girardi will break camp as the club's catchers with OF/C-R Eli Marrero serving as a third option. Hopefully, Torrealba will successfully pass through waivers as I'm certain the Cardinals will need him as an injury replacement at some point in 2003.