Greetings. I’ll be writing a column about the Cardinals’ acquisition of Mark DeRosa for Monday’s paper, but that will probably be more along the lines of an overview. So in the Bernie Blog, I thought I’d offer some bullet-point analysis. Thanks.

* What’s the risk? What is the downside?

- DeRosa is in the walk year of his contract. He can become a free agent at the end of the season. If the Cardinals don’t sign him to a new contract, it means that they will have leased DeRosa for 86 games at the cost of about five years of relatively cheap labor from promising reliever Chris Perez. And they’ll be sending another prospect (probably a pitcher, candidates unknown) to the Indians in the future as part of the deal. Perez could become a good closer; the player to be named could emerge to make the deal even sweeter for Cleveland. But if DeRosa helps the Cardinals make it to the playoffs, the second-guessing will be greatly reduced.   

- Also, DeRosa had only 23 career ABs as a cleanup hitter before he came to the Cardinals. Not enough to pass judgment, but he batted .217 there. Even though DeRosa batted 4th on Sunday, he’s not the prototype No. 4 hitter. He’s been good in the 5 hole, and in the 6 hole, and decent as a No. 2 hitter. But the Cardinals had to deepen this lineup, one way or another. A No. 4 hitter isn’t the only need; the Cardinals certainly need to strengthen other spots in the lineup. DeRosa had 50 RBIs at the time of the trade; only 19 MLB had more through Saturday. Only one Cardinal (Albert Pujols) has more RBIs than DeRosa. For all of the pleading for Matt Holliday, it should be noted that DeRosa has more homers (13) and RBIs (50) than Holliday (8-39) so far this season.

- According to the Dewan-James Fielding Bible ratings, DeRosa is a below-average third baseman. And in 2008, he was a below-average second baseman. But he does get good marks for his work in LF and RF.

* What are the plusses? Many:

- DeRosa plays multiple positions (3B, 2B, LF, RF, 1B) which is ideal for manager Tony La Russa, who usually makes the most out of such versatility. Given the hole at third base and the mediocre hitting by the outfielders, DeRosa’s bat can fit nicely into several spots. La Russa won’t have to continue to expose slumping hitters as much as he has been. It will be interesting to see the number of ways that La Russa deploys DeRosa. And DeRosa is a La Russa kind of player.

- DeRosa has hammered LH pitching. In 826 career ABs vs. the lefties, he’s batted .305 with a .375 onbase percentage and a .488 slugging percentage. With 30 homers and 125 RBIs. The Cardinals have been horrendous against lefties this season, batting .228 with a .309 OBP and .358 SLG. It’s even worse (.214 BA) since April 28.

-DeRosa is widely respected in the game, has a reputation for being an excellent presence in the clubhouse. He gets along with players of all ethnic backgrounds and personality. His is a unifying personality.

-DeRosa was coveted by other teams, some of whom will likely be competing with the Cardinals for a spot in the postseason. When you can beat the Cubs, Mets, Giants, Braves (and others) to the punch, that’s a real bonus. Another bonus is moving in on DeRosa early, which means getting an extra month out of him as opposed to teams who will wait until the July 31 trade deadline to make their play for help.

- The Cubs don’t like this. At all. Take a look at this piece from MLB.com to see ex-teammates comment on their buddy, DeRosa, becoming a Cardinal.

- This will be good for the morale of the team. La Russa and his staff and the players were working hard and battling like crazy to keep this team in the hunt for 1st place in the NL Central. To a man, they were waiting for help to arrive. If help didn’t arrive, a feeling of abandonment would have set in. Now they’ll get a boost, just by knowing that ownership and management are really behind them. Now they see proof that chairman Bill DeWitt and GM John Mozeliak have their backs.

-Maybe, just maybe, this addition will ease some of the pressure on Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel, who have been asked to carry a big share of the load in support of Pujols. And that hasn’t gone well.

-The Cardinals tapped into a surplus to make this deal happen. The organization has a nice collection of RH relievers. The depth is very good. With Ryan Franklin sealed in as the closer through 2010,  Perez was no longer on the brink of assuming the role; Jason Motte had moved ahead of him. Perez has talent, and he has a future. But for now Perez was working the 6th or 7th inning most of the time, and was only being asked to provide around 8 innings per month. And how difficult will it be to replace that?

For the short term the Cardinals traded 8 innings a month for about 30 at-bats a week.

For the short term the Cardinals traded a supporting member of their bullpen for a guy ranked 20th in the majors in RBIs.

The Cardinals have been building a better farm system for two reasons: (1) to funnel players to the big-league roster; (2) to increase and improve the depth and then deal from the surplus.  

Sure, Perez (and the player to be named) could grow into something special. That’s the risk.

But it’s a risk worth taking. You only get so many chances to win. They’re precious. And if scouting director Jeff Luhnow is doing a good job, other RH reliever prospects will come along.

Thanks for reading …

-Bernie