Greene Pasture

It has been reported that the Cardinals have traded for Padres SS Khalil Greene. The cost cutting Padres will receive two prospects in return.

NYPOST:

"In a continuing attempt to reduce payroll, the Padres were closing in on trading their starting shortstop, Khalil Greene to the Cardinals. Greene is due $6.5 million next year in the final season of his contract.
The expectation is that Greene will be moved even before the Winter Meetings start in Las Vegas on Monday. The Cardinals are said to be giving up two relief prospects to obtain Greene, sources tell The Post."

(Note: Who the hell are these sources???)

As long as this move goes down, I think this was a major coup for the Cardinals. Greene is a good baseball player with lots of skills, but his performance tailed off dramatically in large part because of PETCO Park. Take a look at the home/away splits over the past three seasons:

Home Away

2006: .210 .280

2007: .216 .288

2008: .215 .212

It’s obvious that Greene statistics took a major hit from playing at PETCO Park. The wide dimensions and spacious field eroded away Greene’s power and extra base ability. I expect Greene to thrive in St. Louis, where he will actually be playing in a normal sized stadium surrounded by good hitters including some guy named Pujols. Furthermore, 2009 is the final year of Greene’s contract, which means that he will have extra motivation heading into this season.

Greene has always been an asset defensively, but his offense will determine the direction of Greene’s career. He needs to take more walks, improve his OBP, and most importantly, show the promising power and consistency that made him such a fun player to watch back in 2004.

This is a classic “buy low” move for the Cardinals. Greene is coming off a bad year and needs a good season to turn his career around. I love the potential this move brings for the Cardinals and I think the Padres needed to cut ties with Greene, especially after the contract dispute with the Padres.