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On July 27, 2011 the St. Louis Cardinals sat at 55-49. They were half a game behind the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. They were 5.5 games behind the Wild Card-leading Atlanta Braves. They needed pitching, both in the rotation and in the bullpen. The animosity between Colby Rasmus (and his dad) and the Cardinals coaching staff had been well documented.
It was time to make a move.
In a three-team deal, the Cardinals sent Rasmus to Toronto and acquired starter Edwin Jackson, reliever Octavio Dotel, reliver Marc Rzepczynski, outfielder Corey Patterson, and three players to be named or cash.
At the end of it all, the Blue Jays acquired 3 years of control of Rasmus 6.3 fWAR, 6.6 coming from Rasmus, for $14.93 million while the Cardinals spent $5.6 million for 0.2 fWAR. By 2019 Rasmus was out of the league.
As for the Cardinals, in 2011 they did this:
Some old school VEB articles:
Colby Rasmus and the Manager's Job | Viva El Birdos
The Curious Case of Colby Rasmus | Viva El Birdos
Kyle McClellan and Colby Rasmus | Viva El Birdos
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