It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to respond to Matt Holliday’s latest quad injury last night:
Source confirms Indians and Cardinals have had discussions centered around Brandon Moss.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 30, 2015
Can report/confirm Cards have traded LHP prospect Rob Kaminsky to CLE for IB/OF Brandon Moss. @SBNation was 1st to report deal in works.
— Bernie Miklasz (@miklasz) July 30, 2015
Followup: Kaminsky/Moss straight up … Moss under control through 2016 … Cardinals not close to making another move at this time.
— Bernie Miklasz (@miklasz) July 30, 2015
kaminsky for moss is a done deal. #indians #STLCards kaminsky is a talented lefty, cards bulk up 1B situation. @miklasz 1st
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 30, 2015
Moss, who can help the Cardinals out both at first base (Matt Adams) and in the outfield (Holliday), is hitting just .217/.288/.407 in his age 31 season, his first sub-100 wRC+ year since he started getting regular playing time (and you can expect him to turn things around now). He’s making $6.5 million this year and is arbitration-eligible next season.
Kaminsky, 20, is a really steep price to pay for Moss (clearly, the Cardinals didn’t want the Holliday injury to derail their season). He came into the year a top three prospect in the Cardinals’ system (most had him just behind Alex Reyes and Stephen Piscotty), and has been pitching very well at High-A. A first rounder in 2013, Kaminsky is on the smaller side, but has the stuff to become a big league starter.
Jim Callis thinks the Cardinals just got taken:
This Brandon Moss for Rob Kaminsky talk isn't really serious, is it? Flat-out robbery by Cleveland if true. @Cardinals @Indians
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) July 30, 2015