TOWER GROVE — While reading the coverage of the deal sending Colorado Rockies outfielder and recent Cardinals-target Matt Holliday to Oakland — from the news of the trade, to the players headed to Denver, to Drew Litton’s cartoon — one thing stands out.

There isn’t a Ryan Ludwick in the bunch.

Any time there is a deal of this nature, especially one that we know the St. Louis Cardinals were interested/involved in, it offers up an opportunity to truly gauge where the Cardinals are with their minor-league system, their assets on hand and their willingness to part with those assets. For example, a year ago it was clear that the Cardinals didn’t have the purse to sit on the table with Detroit when Atlanta was taking bids on Edgar Renteria. (”What Renteria Teaches Us“.)

Clearly, in the names of players floated as being part of a Holliday deal, the best player considered was Ludwick. Not only did he have a breakthrough season with his 100 RBIs and 30-plus homers and one-single-short-of-.300 average, but Ludwick is also just entering the arbitration phase of his career. In Ludwick, as one person told me, Colorado had a replacement for Holliday to sell to its fanbase, one wrapped up for at least three more years and dressed with a tidy statistical bow. The final package of players Oakland is reportedly sending to Colorado does not include a Ludwick.

Not even close.

Of course, the Cardinals don’t really have a Greg Smith to offer, either.

To land Holliday, an interesting one-year rental for the Moneyball-era A’s, Oakland offered former closer Huston Street, starter Smith and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. All three have major-league experience, with Street having been the A’s closer for several years. Smith went 7-16 with a 4.16 ERA this past season. Gonzalez hit .242 with four home runs and 302 at-bats for Oakland this past season. Both Street & Smith — how’s that for a trade combo — have arm issues or arm concerns. Smith is coming off a routine procedure a few weeks ago to remove loose particles from his left elbow.

Finding equivalent players in the Cardinals’ organization is difficult.

There’s no Street that the Cardinals have to deal, and one of the young righthanded relievers is a more valuable chip than Street. There’s no Smith to deal, though a year from Jaime Garcia would be close to that piece, minus the 30 starts in the majors and plus some ability. Gonzalez has shown more power than Skip Schumaker in the minors, and he’s been described as a toolsy outfielder, a couple tiers or so below the Cardinals’ Colby Rasmus. He could be Daryl Jones-like in someways, but with major-league experiencec and Triple-A production already under his belt. Coming up with a comparable deal to illustrate the Cardinals hesitation to part with an undesignated three players is an imperfect science at best. But there is a faint outline from all of the reports (NOTE: this is pure, though educated, speculation and was likely not discussed at all; it’s merely connecting dots — needs to haves):

Oakland’s Street is … greater than … the Cardinals’ Mitchell Boggs

Oakland’s Smith is … less than … the Cardinals’ Kyle McClellan

Oakland’s Gonzalez is … akin to … the Cardinals’ Skip Schumaker

Is that the kind of deal the Cardinals’ should have made? Is it one they could have made? Probably not on both accounts. It’s a lot more to give up than Oakland did, and it certainly offers Colorado more years of control then they have over, say, Street. But while it gives the Rockies the center fielder, it doesn’t fill the Rockies late-inning needs like Street does or the instant backend-rotation starter like Smith (though McClellan is close). It’s a hard deal to mirror with the Cardinals’ collection of assets. And maybe that was the issue.

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“Boys of Summer” star Preacher Roe died Sunday, and while he was famous for being a Brooklyn Dodger, he also was a St. Louis Cardinal — for one game. His debut. Roe was reportedly recruited by Frank Rickey, Branch’s brother, and he made his debut in August 1938. There’s most about his brief major-league time as a Cardinal, but also his Cardinals’ roots over at his official website. Ah, the “Beech-Nut slider” …

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Cardinals first-round pick Brett Wallace went 4-for-5 on Monday and has cranked the dial from warming-up to sizzling at the Arizona Fall League. In his previous six games, Wallace is 13-for-28 and a 1.000 slugging percentage. He’s driven in 13 runs in that stretch, including a six-RBI game. … Tony Cruz continues to play well in Hawaii, improving at catcher. Jeff Luhnow visited the island recently to see Cruz, Blake King, Tyler Herron and the other Cardinals’ prospects there, and the farm director clocked Cruz’s throw to second at 1.87 seconds. … A lesser highlighted part of the Holliday news as the report that Oakland is interested in shortstop Rafael Furcal as its leadoff hitter. … Colorado is still in the mood to deal. … Even as they pursue Jake Peavy, the Cubs are believed to have offered Ryan Dempster a deal worth four years and $50 million. … The White Sox are dangling closer Bobby Jenks and Javier Vazquez. While Jenks is an appealing addition, Vazquez comes with a caveat: He’s owed $11.5 million in each of the next two seasons, and he has a limited no trade clause.

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THE (return of the) LINEUP

An attempt to restart a staple of last winter that was somewhat entertaining, here’s nine baseball books I have stacked here to read sometime this winter. Call it my Hot Stove resolution:

1. The Universal Baseball Association Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop., by Robert Coover
   
2. The Ticket Out, by Michael Sokolove
3. Burying the Black Sox, by Gene Carney
4. Crazy ‘08, by Cait Murphy
5. Playing with the Enemy, by Gary W. Moore
6. Wrecking Crew, by John Albert
7. The Gashouse Gang, by John Heidenry
8. Spalding’s World Tour, by Mark Lamster (really eager to read this one)
9. The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane (From the author of Mystic River. Hey, its first portion is titled, “Babe Ruth in Ohio”, and there’s a section titled, “Babe Ruth and the Workers Revolution”)

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Back shortly with a look at the Dan Haren-Mark Mulder deal, the gift that keeps on giving.

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