That's a BIG win for STL and keeps some key pieces in play for an Arenado deal if there's traction there.

Works for me

That's a solid trade. Jose belongs in the AL too. Good for him.

My Rays fans are pissed. ROFL

Looks like a solid deal. Looks like Martinez had more value than some people in here thought.

How did this happen? How did Mo make such, what appears to be, a phenomenal trade?! Did TB have to make up for the Pham trade?!

Sounds like a really nice deal.

Rays are trying to run down the Yankees and stay ahead of Boston.

The Yankees have Paxton and Happ in their rotation (lefties) not to mention a LH closer in Chapman. The Red Sox have Price, Sale, Rodriguez and Perez in theirs (potentially 4 more lefties).

You want to find a spot for a RH contact hitter who puts good swings on lefties but can't play defense to have significant value? My friends, I give you the AL East.

His value in a vacuum is iffy but he's actually a pretty damn good fit in TB for a team that's looking for cost effective ways to hang with two very talented teams with a lot of lefty pitching.

But yeah, your Rays fans should be pissed. And you can take this deal back to it's roots and give Mozeliak quite a bit of credit for it. Martinez was acquired from the Royals for nominal cash considerations and Arozarena was a relatively affordable international signing. Then a little luck to boot when they won the 'lottery' to get their comp balance pick in the A round after the 1st rather than the B round after the 2nd.

I mean the Cardinals gave up a player they acquired for free who simply didn't fit in the NL, a draft pick they were given due to the largess of MLB and an international signing who was largely unheralded at the time.

And in return they got a kid who was considered the best P prospect in his class during the pre-draft run-up (but scared teams off with the possibility of honoring his college commit; turns out he likely overplayed his hand) and who's pitched well since being drafted. Hell, even the C they got appears to have a hell of a stick. Reminds be a bit of Jhon Torres who they got in the Mercado deal; a 'who' of a prospect at the time but a guy who puts bat to ball with authority.

Very interesting trade indeed. Cardinals won’t add Carlson in a potential trade for Arenado. Now they get Liberatore, who, as mentioned earlier, is best friends with Gormon. Coincidence or just another trade chip?

https://stlbullpen.com/2020/01/06/ca...third-basemen/

Now I don't necessarily agree that Rendon's a superior player, but the conclusion is definitely sound - they're close enough as to make little difference.

Which is to say this team damn sure does not need additional prospects to get this deal done - they simply need the will.

And if they include prospects it is effectively selling them for the purposes of getting the Rockies to take additional contractual liabilities that would free them up for the Ozuna contract.

This idea that Liberator was acquired to flip to Colorado had better just be typical hyperventilating Bob Nightengale horseshit There's simply no reason for the Cardinals to be going ham in their offer here.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Matthew Liberatore and Nolan Gorman met when they were 5, played baseball with and against each other until they went 16th &amp; 19th overall in the 2018 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MLBDraft?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MLBDraft</a> and now will reunite in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/STLCards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#STLCards</a> system. Here&#39;s a closer look at the longtime best friends: <a href="https://t.co/LUe8d7Nt5n">https://t.co/LUe8d7Nt5n</a> <a href="https://t.co/zIbYDPSKu9">pic.twitter.com/zIbYDPSKu9</a></p>&mdash; MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1215436172819824641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 10, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Side note to your Rays fan friends - remind them that they'll REALLY like Hose. Mostly because they won't have to watch him try to field.

He's as nice a guy as you'll find in the game and a genuinely great teammate.

Who wouldn't enjoy watching a giraffe on ice skates. :)

Mo actually came out good on this, color me shocked.

If we somehow get Arenado and get to keep Carlson, Liberator, and Gorman (yes I know we should, but Mo makes dumb deals) and get rid of at least one bad contract, if not more, then I may have to give Mo a pass for a while.

Rosenthal seems to think this was the first move to ultimately get Arenado.