By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today
Just hours after Matt Holliday fell to his knees in the Cardinals dugout after straining his quad for the second time this season, GM John Mozeliak has struck a deal. The Cardinals have acquired first baseman/corner outfielder Brandon Moss from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for left-handed pitching prospect Rob Kaminsky.
Acquired from the Athletics this past offseason, Moss, 31, is playing on a one-year, $6.5 million contract, but is under team control through 2016. A veteran of nine years in the majors, the left-handed slugger is is hitting just .217 this year, but does have 15 home runs and 48 RBI, which will rank first and second on the Cardinals, respectively. While 11 of those home runs have come against right-handed pitching, Moss does have reverse splits at the plate this year. He’s batting .267 with a .338 on-base percentage against righties compared to just .190 with a .263 OBP against same-handed pitchers.
An All-Star in 2014, Moss averaged 25 home runs and 73 RBI per year in his three years with the Athletics, from 2012-2014. His results have been less favorable recently, though, as Moss has hit just .202/.297/.362 in 511 at-bats since the All-Star break last season. A hip injury greatly affected his play down the stretch last season, but Moss did have surgery in October to address the issue.
This will be the sixth team in the past eight years for Moss, who was originally drafted in the eighth round of the 2002 amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. This season, the veteran has started 78 games in right field, 10 at first base, and three as the designated hitter. The Cardinals will be responsible for the roughly $2.47 million left on his contract this season before he’ll be arbitration-eligible for the final time this upcoming offseason.
Kaminsky, who was recently ranked as the organization’s third-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, was the Cardinals first round pick (28th overall) in the 2013 draft. The 20-year-old was pitching at High-A Palm Beach, where he has a 2.09 ERA with a 79/28 K/BB ratio in 17 starts. Kaminsky’s fastball is in the mid-90’s, and many believe his curveball was the best in the Cardinals’ system.
This marks the second notable deal between the two sides in as many years, as the Cardinals acquired struggling right-hander Justin Masterson (who continued to struggle) from Cleveland for outfield prospect James Ramsey prior to last year’s trade deadline.
Moss will wear # 21 and is expected to be in uniform when the Cardinals take on the Rockies Thursday night, according to the team.
Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was first to report the deal, which has since been confirmed by numerous sources. A deal between the two sides involving those two players was first discussed as a possibility late Wednesday night by SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo.
Feature image used under Creative Commons from Keith Allison. No changes made. Image license.
