By Jim Callis
November 21, 2003

The Cardinals and Tino Martinez grew tired of each other this season, and on Friday they worked out an end to their two-year marriage. St. Louis sent him back home to Tampa Bay in exchange for Triple-A righthander Evan Rust and a player to be named later.

Martinez, 36, starred at Tampa's Jesuit High and at the University of Tampa during his amateur career. After playing on four World Series champions in six seasons with the Yankees from 1996-2001, he signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Cardinals. He batted just .273/.352/.429 with 15 homers and 69 RBIs in 138 games this year, his worst season since 1992. Reports out of St. Louis in September indicated that Martinez and manager Tony La Russa weren't getting along, and the Cards agreed to pick up $7.5 million of the guaranteed $8.5 million remaining on his contract. Martinez will make $7.5 million in 2004 and has a $1 million buyout or an $8.5 million salary scheduled for 2005. He's a mediocre offensive performer for a first baseman and has really deteriorated against lefthanders. Southpaws held him to .235/.323/.346 numbers in 2003 and he often sat against them, one reason for his discontent. Martinez is a good defender and a below-average runner. In 1,754 career games, he has hit .273/.344/.473 with 299 homers and 1,146 RBIs. A two-time all-star, he'll likely man first base for one season for the Devil Rays before Aubrey Huff shifts there from the outfield.

Rust, 25, signed as a nondrafted free agent in 2000 after going 1-11 at St. Mary's (Calif.). He split 2003 between Double-A Orlando, going 3-5, 2.96 with 12 saves in 56 appearances. In 70 innings, he had a 61-25 strikeout-walk ratio and held opponents to a .228 average and one homer. Rust throws a low-90s fastball and does a good job of keeping his pitches down in the strike zone. He's not overpowering, and his secondary pitches are no better than average. He was a fringe Top 30 Prospect in the Devil Rays system.

December 16 update: The Devil Rays finalized the trade by sending a fringe prospect, first baseman John-Paul Davis, to the Cardinals. Davis, 24, was a 22nd-round pick out of Arkansas Tech in 2001. He has no standout tool and has been just a decent hitter in the minors. In 2003, he batted .284/.378/.462 with 16 homers and 69 RBIs in 131 games between low Class A Charleston (where he played in 2002) and Double-A Orlando (where his power declined significantly).

Contributing: Bill Ballew.