Cardinals to swap Rolen for Glaus

Ken Rosenthal has been the first on the scene for many major trade rumors these past couple weeks. Here's another tidbit from him today. The St. Louis Cardinals are on the verge of swapping Scott Rolen for Troy Glaus from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Rolen's poor working relationship with Tony LaRussa has been well documented, and the Cardinals were scrambling to get something for the veteran 3B. The deal is pending both players passing physicals. Normally this is just a superfluous step before the signing, but it is not the case for this deal. Both players are coming off of major surgeries. Rolen had surgery on his right shoulder, and Glaus had an operation on his left foot.

This seems like a pretty good deal for the Blue Jays in my opinion. The Cardinals are reportedly going to send money to the Blue Jays as well to cover some of Rolen's contract. I thought the Cardinals would get a major-league-ready player like Glaus, but I figured they would score a prospect out of the deal as well. After all, the Brewers were being asked for Capuano, Hall, and a prospect. The asking price must have plummeted. Either way, both teams are getting an injured veteran with a good power stroke (though Rolen's has been declining), but Toronto seems to win in the deal because of the money the Cardinals are willing to send over to cover part of Rolen's contract. Not to mention Rolen is a much better fielder than Troy Glaus.

Brewers Cool Down on Rolen

Looks Like the Rolen trade between the Brewers and the Cardinals is dead.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/12/04/combination-of-factors-moved-brewers-off-rolen.aspx

The fact that Bill Hall was even included in this conversation was news to me. I was under the impression that it was Capuano and a "top prospect" for Rolen. This would have been a terrible trade for the Brewers, and I'm glad the talks have died. The Cards were not going to eat significant portion of Rolen's salary, and the BrewCrew does not need any more injury risk than they already have with Ben Sheets. Way too much for an injury prone player that is getting up there in age.

Sounds like the Brewers may be targeting Iguchi or Crede. Both of these are very unappealing to me. I have also heard Andy LaRoche and Brandon Inge thrown around. That would be much more interesting and up to the Brewer's speed, young and cheap with tons of potential.