The first big deal of the weekend was J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero of the Cardinals being traded to the Atlanta Braves for three pitchers, including Jason Marquis.

I think this deal will go down in history as Drew for Adam Wainwright, the minor league pitcher included in the deal. Drew is a very good player; he hits for a good average, draws a lot of walks and hits for some power. His main problem is that he's never been able to play more than 135 games in a season. A healthy Drew will be an adequate replacement for Sheffield in right. Marrero is someone who showed promise early, but health problems have never allowed him to reach his potential. I don't see him being a big contributor to the Braves.

The Cardinals are talking about Marquis joining the rotation. It's interesting, that if you look at his career stats as a starter and reliever, he's pitched better as a reliever, but has an ERA that's one run higher coming out of the bullpen. Jason's strikeouts are okay, his walks are okay, and his HR allowed are okay. He's still young, so we could see a big improvement, but if you can't pitch well with Atlanta, one has to wonder.

I do like Ray King. I think he's a very good setup man, and has perfromed much better in the majors than Marquis has. But the one to be excited about is Wainwright. In 539 minor league innings, he's struck out 560 while walking only 163. And he's only allowed 29 HR. So far, he's done the three things a pitcher has to do well extremely well. And he's only 22. I think the Cardinals have a real winner here.