Well, you probably know by now that Matt Holliday has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. In return, the Oakland Athletics will receive Super Prospect Brett Wallace, Minor League Outfielder Shane Peterson and Minor Leaguer Clayton Mortensen. Wallace and Mortensen will report to Triple A Sacramento while Peterson will head to Double A Midland.

So, what does this mean fantasywise? Holliday will immediately get a boost in fantasy potential. Hitting in a much hitter friendly park in St. Louis should help him return to his old self. Well, maybe not quite his Colorado days but he should be a ton better offensively now. Don’t be surprised if his numbers go up across the board. The Cards have a much better lineup that is stacked from top to bottom now. With Ryan Ludwick turning things around, Holliday should fit in nicely between him and Albert Pujols in the lineup. Expect that he will see better pitches and have more RBI opportunities. This should actually make the entire lineup better.

Now, for the A’s. Well, this might not have much impact on fantasy this year unless Adam Kennedy is traded. But, Kennedy has expressed a want to sign an extension with the club and with Mark Ellis’ injury history the A’s might not want to let Kennedy go. Then of course the A’s might want to get as much as they can for Kennedy while he still has some value. Remember, the A’s have Jemile Weeks (brother of Ricky Weeks) waiting in the wings to take over second base.

The A’s actually wanted to draft Wallace in 2008 but chose to take Weeks instead. “Brett is a guy that we’ve always sort of longed for,” A’s General Manager Billy Beane said. “Last year’s draft, we had the difficult choice between him and Jemile. I don’t think we could be any more pleased now that we have both of them in the organization. It might have taken a year, but he’s with the Oakland A’s now.”

Wallace is the type of player that scouts predict will be a middle of the order type that can hit for both average and power. He is the sort of player that you can build a team around if he plays up to his potential. But, as for now, he’ll report to Triple A and play third base. He’ll probably be a September call up if not by mid-August. Peterson and Mortensen project to be good Major Leaguers but do not figure into the immediate future just yet.

This should signal the beginning of a few other moves for the A’s. Orlando Cabrera and Michael Wuertz have drawn interest from the Minnesota Twins. Look for the A’s to get even younger, real soon folks. Wuertz probably won’t gain any value if traded but Cabrera would easily receive a spike in value should he be moved to a team with just a slightly better offense. So, keep your eyes open for Cabrera on your waiver wire because he tends to play better after the All-Star break and his numbers could seriously jump if he goes to the right team.