A Cubs fans worst nightmare has come true.  After regretting the off season trade that landed Mark DeRosa in a Cleveland Indians uniform, the Cleveland Indians shipped DeRosa to the Cardinals Saturday night.

DeRosa is the player I’ve coveted for a while.  He’s an ideal #2 hitter in the Cardinals lineup to get on base in front of Albert Pujols and he’s sure to see a good number of fastballs in the strike zone.  DeRosa can also play four positions very well (3B, 2B, LF and RF) and it seems as if he’ll get the most playing time at 3B.

Although he’s not your typical cleanup hitter, I’d like to see Tony LaRussa experiment with hitting DeRosa in the four slot against lefties.  The Cardinals cleanup hitters are last in the majors this season with an average hovering around .200.

The Cardinals sent Chris Perez and a player to be named later to the Indians.  Perez who is about to turn 24 has a tremendous amount of upside especially once he gets more command of the strike zone.  The player to be named later is where this gets interesting… hopefully it’s not a top pitching prospect.  The talent level might depend on whether DeRosa resigns with the Cardinals.

With a month remaining until the MLB Trade Deadline, I like how the Cardinals didn’t wait it out for DeRosa or another bat.  They knew DeRosa was a hot commodity and as many as six other teams were rumored to have a lot of interest.  The Cubs apparently were at the top of the list trying to reacquire DeRosa.

Cardinals’ ownership has always made it clear that they would add payroll if the right situation came along.  Here it was on June 27 and they took advantage of it.  LaRussa has been publicly asking for another bat in his lineup since last off season when he expressed his interest in Colorado Rockies outfield Matt Holliday, who wound up being traded to Oakland.  Taking on Holliday’s salary and then negotiating with Scott Boras doesn’t make sense for the Cardinals.  The last thing they need to do is pay Matt Holliday more money than Albert Pujols.  Holliday rejected a four-year $72 million contract from Colorado after the 2008 season.  Pujols still has two years remaining on a seven-year $100 million contract.

While general manager John Mozeliak and ownership take a lot of heat, they deserve some credit for this move – one that puts the Cardinals one step closer to a NL Central title.