Well, that's one more player who's not around to replace Brendan Ryan. The Tampa Bay Rays have apparently traded former Cardinal target Jason Bartlett to the San Diego Padres for pitchers Cesar Ramos and Adam Russell. The Rays have longtime prospect Reid Brignac in waiting at the position and no space on the payroll besides; between Bartlett, Carlos Pena, and Carl Crawford the Rays will have dropped a third of their starting nine before January.
↵Bartlett was outstanding in 2009, but 2008 and 2007 look a lot more like 2010. He'd have been an interesting bet for the Cardinals, but not an extremely interesting bet. That is—more interesting than Brendan Ryan (strictly in a baseball value sense), but maybe less interesting than Brendan Ryan and two pitching prospects and a few million dollars.
↵The Cardinals remain committed to trading Brendan Ryan, or at least trying very hard to trade Brendan Ryan, but it looks like Ryan Theriot really will begin the season as their starting shortstop.
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