Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Cards Acquire Reliever from Braves

The St. Louis Cardinals have traded Triple A outfielder Brian Barton to the Atlanta Braves for right handed reliever Blaine Boyer. The Cardinals are hoping Boyer can help a bullpen that is already seeing a repeat of 2008, blowing leads late in games. The Cardinals wasted no time at all trying to eclipse their major league record of 31 blown saves in 2008 - by doing the same thing on opening day - this time the culprit was rookie reliever Jason Motte. Motte has great stuff, but for an organization like the Cardinals to not go out and get an established closer during the off season knowing how bad the 'pen' was in '08...it's just not fair to the stars on this team, Pujols, Wainwright, Molina, etc.

During the first half of 2008, Boyer pitched 52 2/3 innings, he posted 45 strikeouts while only allowing 18 walks with a 3.93 ERA. But he faded down the stretch in 2008 - so this may be a better trade than first thought. This guy sounds like a player Dave Duncan loves. A buy low guy, that can flourish under the tutelage of Duncan.
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