Bye-bye Luddy

At least Ryan Ludwick’s last play as a Cardinal was an important one: scoring the only run of the game early this morning for a 1-0 return-to-first-place victory. And he scored that run after being on base via a pinch-hit double to lead off the 10th inning.

There seems to be much shock over the trade of Luddy to the Padres in a three-way trade that brought Jake Westbrook to the Cardinals. (The Cards get prospect Nick Greenwood from the Padres too.) With just under an hour left until the trade deadline, maybe John Mozeliak still has another move in the works to address the Cardinals seemingly biggest need: a bat to help them score runs. We shall see.

Luddy is definitely a fan favorite – which was especially apparent in the Twitter reaction to this trade – and one of our favorites here as well. We even celebrated Ludwick Appreciation Day back in May. So we are definitely sad to see him go at this point in time, even though we are (reluctantly) happy for the opportunity he now has with the Padres – he has better offensive numbers than any of San Diego’s current outfielders. And, long-term, we knew that perhaps he wasn’t part of the Cards future following this season. But that was to think about during the hot-stove season. I honestly was blindsided that seeing him score that run early today was the end of his Cardinals career.

Matthew Leach has a great summary of Luddy's career:
Ludwick, 31, has revived his career as a member of the Cardinals since signing with the organization as a Minor League free agent in 2007. He was an All-Star in '08 and in four seasons with St. Louis has hit .280 with a .349 on-base percentage and a .507 slugging percentage.

In 2010, Ludwick has a .281/.343/.484 line with 11 home runs, 43 RBIs and 44 runs scored in 77 games. He missed nearly a month with a strained left calf, returning last weekend for the Cards' series against the Cubs.

He would be a third-year arbitration-eligible player this winter, though, which means he will almost certainly receive a significant raise for the 2011 season. Rookie Jon Jay has impressed in his first 48 games, hitting .396 and slugging .604, evidently convincing the club that he is ready for a bigger role in the short term. The deal might also open up some playing time for rookie Allen Craig, who is hitting well at Triple-A Memphis.

In closing, here’s a tweet from our friend Neal Bradley that sums up our thoughts perfectly. “My final say on Ludwick. He played like a Cardinal should. Not perfect, but always 100% effort and 100% class. Good luck Luddy (until Oct).”

Oh, yes, welcome Jake Westbrook! We'll think about you a little later.