Cardinals trade Brian Barton to ATL for Blaine Boyer

[Laura]

Mathew Leach / MLB.com[/url]"]

 

Hoping to help their beleaguered bullpen, the Cardinals acquired right-hander Blaine Boyer from the Braves in exchange for Triple-A outfielder Brian Barton on Monday.

 

Boyer is expected to be at Busch Stadium and available to pitch for Tuesday's 7:15 p.m. CT game against the Mets. The Cardinals will demote a position player to make room for him. That will likely be David Freese, though general manager John Mozeliak did not announce the corresponding move in a conference call on Monday afternoon.

 

Boyer, 27, got off to a rough start with Atlanta in 2009 and was designated for assignment. In three appearances, he allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings. That follows a major second-half fade in '08 after an excellent beginning to the season.

 

If Boyer can repeat his first-half 2008 performance -- a 3.93 ERA, 45 strikeouts and 18 walks in 52 2/3 innings -- he'll be a significant asset to the Cardinals' bullpen. Of course, that's far from a guarantee.

[Clem Fandango]

Your bullpen must be pretty bad if a reliever putting up an ERA around 4.00 is a good sign

[Derwood]

In an effort to help the slower, dim-witted members of the Cardinals team and front office, the team traded AAA OF Brian Barton to Atlanta, while retaining ML IF Brian Barden. "I went to fill out my opening day lineup," said a beleagured Tony La Russa, "and couldn't figure out when Barton started playing the infield. I went to Dave Duncan and said, 'Wasn't he more black last year?'"

 

In exchange for Barton, the Cardinals received Blaine Boyer. "We looked over their roster," explained Cardinal GM John Mozeliak, "and Boyer's name stood out to me. 'We don't have any Blaine's OR Boyer's' I said to myself. 'Perfect!'"

[Clem Fandango]

In an effort to help the slower, dim-witted members of the Cardinals team and front office, the team traded AAA OF Brian Barton to Atlanta, while retaining ML IF Brian Barden. "I went to fill out my opening day lineup," said a beleagured Tony La Russa, "and couldn't figure out when Barton started playing the infield. I went to Dave Duncan and said, 'Wasn't he more black last year?'"

 

In exchange for Barton, the Cardinals received Blaine Boyer. "We looked over their roster," explained Cardinal GM John Mozeliak, "and Boyer's name stood out to me. 'We don't have any Blaine's OR Boyer's' I said to myself. 'Perfect!'"

 

LOL what is that from?

[Mephistopheles]

figures they kept the one we cant get out.

[NonProfitCow]

Anybody happen to know much about Boyer? This looks like a not so smart smart move to me.

[Derwood]

In an effort to help the slower, dim-witted members of the Cardinals team and front office, the team traded AAA OF Brian Barton to Atlanta, while retaining ML IF Brian Barden. "I went to fill out my opening day lineup," said a beleagured Tony La Russa, "and couldn't figure out when Barton started playing the infield. I went to Dave Duncan and said, 'Wasn't he more black last year?'"

 

In exchange for Barton, the Cardinals received Blaine Boyer. "We looked over their roster," explained Cardinal GM John Mozeliak, "and Boyer's name stood out to me. 'We don't have any Blaine's OR Boyer's' I said to myself. 'Perfect!'"

 

LOL what is that from?

 

me

[Little Slide Rooter]

Is Barton the guy with the dreds who was like a nuclear physics major?

[Sammys Boombox]

Is Barton the guy with the dreds who was like a nuclear physics major?

 

Yes.

[E.J.]

figures they kept the one we cant get out.

 

Yeah, I was hoping they'd gotten rid of the guy with 5 hits and 2 homers in 3 games against us so far the season. You can just tell he's going to give us problems during the season.

[Guancous]

In an effort to help the slower, dim-witted members of the Cardinals team and front office, the team traded AAA OF Brian Barton to Atlanta, while retaining ML IF Brian Barden. "I went to fill out my opening day lineup," said a beleagured Tony La Russa, "and couldn't figure out when Barton started playing the infield. I went to Dave Duncan and said, 'Wasn't he more black last year?'"

 

In exchange for Barton, the Cardinals received Blaine Boyer. "We looked over their roster," explained Cardinal GM John Mozeliak, "and Boyer's name stood out to me. 'We don't have any Blaine's OR Boyer's' I said to myself. 'Perfect!'"

 

Kudos!

[Guest]

Is Barton the guy with the dreds who was like a nuclear physics major?

 

Yes.

I think it's a jheri curl not dreds, lol.

[Andy]

And so ends Brian Barton's big league career. Without the Cardinal magic he has no shot.

[rawaction]

Man, I read that as Brian Barden, the latest pixie dust recipient.

[shnsajax]

Man, I read that as Brian Barden, the latest pixie dust recipient.

 

Exactly what I was reading too.

[dew1679666265]

What's keeping Barton's value so low? He's 26, but has decent minor league numbers.

 

.314 avg .413 obp .475 slg

 

A little light on the slugging, but I think I might give an .888 career OPS (though I realize that's not the best measure for a minor leaguer) a shot in a bench role, at least.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

What's keeping Barton's value so low? He's 26, but has decent minor league numbers.

 

.314 avg .413 obp .475 slg

 

A little light on the slugging, but I think I might give an .888 career OPS (though I realize that's not the best measure for a minor leaguer) a shot in a bench role, at least.

 

That's mostly amassed in the lower minors while being well older than his league. Barton is a pretty decent backup outfielder, but he's a non-normal fit because I think he's bound to LF by his defense, and he doesn't have enough pop to be a power bat off the bench. He's like a slightly worse version of Matt Murton.

[dew1679666265]

What's keeping Barton's value so low? He's 26, but has decent minor league numbers.

 

.314 avg .413 obp .475 slg

 

A little light on the slugging, but I think I might give an .888 career OPS (though I realize that's not the best measure for a minor leaguer) a shot in a bench role, at least.

 

That's mostly amassed in the lower minors while being well older than his league. Barton is a pretty decent backup outfielder, but he's a non-normal fit because I think he's bound to LF by his defense, and he doesn't have enough pop to be a power bat off the bench. He's like a slightly worse version of Matt Murton.

 

Ok, had no idea about his defense, though I could tell his power was a bit low.

 

Seems like he ought to get a chance with the Braves given how little outfield depth they have.