St. Lou to St. Pete

Thursday's top baseball story was the Cardinals/Ray trade sending Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to Tampa Bay for prospect Matt Liberatore.

Martinez, whose glovework leaves something to be desired-- for proof, the Cards used him at DH in eight of their 10 interleague games least season -- goes for Liberatore, a 6 foot 6 lefty (and 2018 first round pick) who mostly throws in the low 90s.

The other player heading to the Trop, Arozarena, profiles as a fourth outfielder, strong on defense and an above-average base runner. But scouts appear skeptical about his upsite as a hitter.

Does this signal that the Cardinals are more confident in resigning the still-free agent Marcell Ozuna? There's also buzz that Liberatore could be the kind of young talent who could beef up a potential package that could persuade the Rockies to send Nolan Arenado to St. Louis.

The deal also appears to give the Rays a surplus at 1st base/DH, where Martinez joins Ji Man Choi, Yandy Diaz, Austin Meadows and Yoshi Tsutsugo in a battle for playing time. That hints at a possible follow-up move by Tampa Bay.

An old fashioned trade for our increasingly modern analytics-driven game.

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