Roto Assist

The St. Louis Cardinals might be looking to move struggling Ryan Ludwick while he still has some trade value. The two suspected teams involved in possible trades are the Oakland Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays. Now, normally you would think that the Cardinals would be asking for a nice young group of players for Ludwick but that isn’t the case. This isn’t one of those situations where the Cardinals are trying to unload a good player to look toward the future. Ludwick is having a poor season so far and it looks as though the Cardinals might be thinking that instead of 2008 being a breakout year for Ludwick, it might just have been a fluke year.

Well, the A’s and Jays might be willing to take that chance. It is rumored that the A’s and Cardinals have discussed a trade involving Ludwick a minor leaguer and one of St. Louis’ bullpen arms for Matt Holliday. That’s right, Holliday may be heading back to the NL. And the Cards might also try to use the same type of package to lure Roy Halladay away from the Jays. Either way the Cards can’t go wrong.

Personally, I think that a return to the NL would do wonders for Holliday. Especially if he was thrust into the Cards’ lineup. He would be a major upgrade over Ludwick (at least this years’ version) and would solidify that lineup. Plus the Cards would have the inside track to resigning him if they chose to.

Halladay on the other hand, would solidify the rotation like no other trade option out there right now. And, the Cards would also have him signed for one more year because he isn’t eligible for free agency just yet. But, that also means that the Jays do not have to trade him if they aren’t absolutely blown away with an offer. Would Ludwick, a bullpen arm and a minor leaguer be enough?

My money is riding on hearing that there are a ton of teams interested in both Halladay and Holliday leading up to the trade deadline. But if I had to make a prediction, I’d say that Holliday will be in a Cards uniform before July 31.