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The Indians traded infielder Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals for RHP Chris Perez and a player to be named later, according to MLB.com.

…this makes sense, because the buzz from cleveland had been the Indians asking the Mets for Bobby Parnell and a low-level pitcher, like a Single-A RHP Scott Shaw…

The 34-year-old DeRosa had been hitting .270 with 13 HR and 50 RBI in 71 games for the Indians, during which he played first, third, left and right field.

In a post to Newsday, Ken Davidoff writes:

"Why didn't the Mets get DeRosa? Because they don't have a pitcher like Perez, who misses bats, and who is major-league ready in their farm system."

Perez, 23, was St. Louis's top pitching prospect, according to Baseball America, and was on track to be the team's future closer.

He was 1-1 with one save and a 4.18 ERA in 20 relief appearances for the Cardinals this season, during which opponents were hitting .195 against him, while allowing just two of 15 inherited runners to score.

In a post to Future Redbirds, Cardinals fan Erik writes:

"So much for the closer of the future. Mark DeRosa is a good player, and the Cardinals are in an obvious need of offense rather than bullpen help, but my initial reaction this is a steep price for just a rental."

DeRosa will earn $5.5 million this year, and will be a free agent this winter.

Last week, in a post to his blog for ESPN.com, Buster Olney said the Mets can add roughly $5 million to their payroll.

…the early read on this is, like erik says, is the Cardinals overpaid, probably because the Cubs were interested in DeRosa as well…