The St. Louis Cardinals have added another arm to their bullpen. On Friday the Cardinals acquired John Axford, formerly of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Axford, acquired for a player to be named later, had appeared in 62 games for the Brewers compiling a 4.45 ER and a 1.55 WHIP.
Some may be surprised to see the Brewers trading with a division rival but general manager Doug Melvin thought that Axford may be non-tendered in the off-season which made a trade in which he got something in return a better scenario.
Did it give Melvin pause to deal within the division? Yep. But felt it was the right thing because Axford was a possible nontender.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) August 30, 2013
The Cardinals figure to use Axford in the seventh inning initially.
Under team control though 2016, the Cardinals may choose to non-tender Axford at the end of the season to avoid paying his future salaries. Axford is making $5 million for the 2013 season.
