Tigers Trading Early
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by user Romiezzo
Seeking to bolster their rotation, the Cardinals have acquired left-handed pitcher Mike Maroth from the Tigers, FOXSports.com has learned.
The trade is the Tigers' second in three days as they prepare for the returns of left-handers Kenny Rogers and Nate Robertson from the disabled list . On Wednesday, Detroit sent left-hander Wilfredo Ledezma to the Braves for left-hander Macay McBride, in part because McBride can be sent to the minors without restriction while Ledezma would need to clear waivers before getting demoted. The Cardinals have also been actively dealing this week. Maroth becomes the second pitcher St. Louis has added, after they signed right-hander Tomo Ohka to a minor-league contract on Tuesday.
The Cardinals' beat-up rotation, which boasts an NL-worst 5.63 ERA, features three former relievers starting for the first time in the big leagues along with two others, Anthony Reyes and Kip Wells, who are a combined 2-19. Braden Looper, a fourth former reliever, went on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with a shoulder strain.
Ace Chris Carpenter is rehabbing from surgery in May to remove bone spurs from his elbow and Mark Mulder is recovering from rotator cuff surgery in September.
In a moment of positive news for the Cardinals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Carpenter threw 50 pitches off a mound on Wednesday — no curveballs — in his second mound session since undergoing surgery.
The Tigers, meanwhile, have one of the deepest pitching staffs in baseball, including several highly-touted young players not even on the major league roster. Detroit hopes to get another boost Friday when Kenny Rogers makes his first start of the season as he recovers from a blood clot.
Maroth is 5-2 with a 5.06 ERA this season.
It seems like the Cardinals are getting some help, now that they have Mike Maroth. They're finally starting to realize that they have one of (if not THE) worst starting rotations in MLB today (without Chris Carpenter of course). Now that they have Mike Maroth, hopefully Cardinals fans can eventually be happy with the results in some of the games in the future. Personally, I thought that both of these Tigers trades were unnecessary, and it was just a coincidence that they were involved in these trades. This trade will have an effect on the standings, I believe, since Mike Maroth is now on the Cardinals. We'll see how it goes for the Tigers. Hopefully, for them, no damage was done in the trades and they can maintain, or maybe even get a big lead in the AL Central Standings.
