By Jim Callis
August 22, 2003

In the first of two trades the Cardinals made Friday evening, they acquired Mike DeJean from the Brewers for two minor league players to be named. Minutes later, they picked up Sterling Hitchcock from the Yankees for a pair of minor league pitchers.

DeJean, a 32-year-old righthander, has served as Milwaukee's closer for the past two seasons. He'll be used as the primary setup man for Jason Isringhausen, and he's also insurance in case Isringhausen's shoulder problems flare up again. He's a sinker-slider pitcher who hasn't kept the ball down consistently in 2003, as he has a 4.87 ERA with 12 homers and a .271 opponent batting average in 65 innings. DeJean is 4-7 with 18 saves and a 58-27 strikeout-walk ratio in 58 appearances. In 425 career appearances, he has a 23-23, 4.27 record and 51 saves. The Cardinals will pay the remainder of DeJean's $1.75 million salary for 2003 and have a team option for $2.5 million next season. If St. Louis declines to pick that up, Milwaukee is on the hook for his $200,000 buyout.

Once the players to be named are identified, we'll analyze them as well. BA's Brewers correspondent, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, reports that Milwaukee must choose from a list of three pitchers by Sept. 15. Triple-A righthander Josh Pearce, who has made five big league appearances with the Cardinals over the last two years, is believed to be one of the candidates.

Aug. 27 update: The Brewers chose righthander Mike Crudale as the first of two pitchers to be named. Crudale, 26, was a 24th-round pick out of Santa Clara University in 1999. He pitched in obscurity until last year, when he earned a promotion to St. Louis and went 3-0, 1.88 in 49 appearances. But he was unable to make the club out of spring training and struggled during May and July callups. Though his 2.38 ERA in 13 games looked good, he allowed 11 hits and 12 walks in 11 innings while fanning just six. Crudale has spent most of the year at Triple-A Memphis, where he had a 5-5, 5.52 record and six saves in 32 appearances. His best pitch is a slider, and he backs it with a solid average fastball. He showed tremendous command in 2002 but it has escaped him this year.

Sept. 10 update: The deal has been finalized with righthander John Novinsky joining the Brewers. A 2000 ninth-round pick from Iona, Novinsky throws a fastball, curveball and changeup but doesn't have a plus pitch. He also has a history of elbow problems, having Tommy John surgery in high school and missing part of 2002 with an inflamed ulnar nerve. He split 2003 between high Class A Potomac and Double-A Tennessee, going 4-3, 3.60 with 19 saves in 55 appearances. He had a 51-29 strikeout-walk ratio and a .272 opponent average in 70 innings.