Cardinals Make Trade to Acquire Justin Masterson

The St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians have agreed on a deal that will send RHP Justin Masterson to the Cardinals for prospect James Ramsey according to Peter Gammons.

Baseball News Source speculated the Indians would be inclined to move Masterson earlier this week.

Masterson had excellent 2013 season, pitching to a 3.45 ERA with a 58 percent ground ball rate. Furthermore, he bumped up his strikeout rate from 17.6 percent to 24.3 percent.

Currently in the disabled list Masterson has had his usual ultra-high ground ball rate and a solid strikeout rate of 20.6 percent, but a very high 12.4 percent walk rate in 2014, contributing to a higher 5.51 ERA.

Ramsey is hitting .300/.389/.527 at Springfield with 13 home runs. He came into the 2014 season as the Cardinals #10 prospect and was a first round draft pick out of Florida State in 2012.

Ramsey is described as a hard-nosed defender with above-average speed. Miscellaneous injuries have slowed his 2104 season.

The Cardinals have been linked to David Price and Jon Lester of late in trade rumors.