Matt Holliday of the Oakland Athletics has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson, and Clayton Mortensen, all of which are prospects. Holliday has been involved in trade rumors since the Athletics acquired him in a trade in the offseason from the Colorado Rockies. The Athletics never had intentions of keeping him that long. Also, the Athletics are at the bottom of the AL West, which most likely contributed to them getting rid of their best hitter.
Holliday was an excellent hitter in his career with the Rockies, consistently hitting a lot of home runs and hitting over .300. However, this season with the Athletics was very rocky. He got off to a poor start, and he only hit 11 home runs for the Athletics. His batting average is at .285, which was only that high after he got on a hot streak lately. I think Holliday's numbers this season is proving a little bit that he can't hit consistently out of Coors Field, which is a hitters friendly ballpark.
If Holliday resembles the numbers he put up with the Rockies, it will definitely be good for the Cardinals. This could be the piece they need to make a strong push at a World Series title. They have quality pitchers in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. They also have the best hitter in the game in Albert Pujols. However, he has been lacking the protection needed in order for them to be a good offensive team. Ryan Ludwick, who batted cleanup behind Pujols, hasn't been the hitter he was last year, when he made an All-Star appearance. Now Holliday can occupy that position and help them out.
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