Scott Rolen was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday (Monday) for Tony Glaus in a swap of All-Star third basemen that was finalized after both players passed physicals.
Rolen became the second St. Louis star to jon Toronto in the offseason. The Blue Jays signed former Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein, the MVP of the 2006 World Series, to a one-year contract earlier.
The 32-year-old Rolen hit a total of only 35 home runs the last three years while being hindered by a left shoulder injury that has required three operations. He and Tony La Russa have clashed since the 2006 postseason, when the manager benched Rolen.
The Cardinals postponed a formal news conference until Wednesday due to the weekend death of Marty Hendin, the team’s vice president of community relations.
La Russa, who agreed to a two-year contract extension in October, held a hard line on the Rolen situation at the winter meetings last month. La Russa said then that if Rolen played hard, he’d be in the lineup and if he didn’t, he’d be on the bench.
The 31-year-old Glaus was hampered by a bad left foot last season while hitting 20 homers in 115 games. Playing on grass in St. Louis rather than artificial turf in Toronto could be beneficial for Glaus, who totaled 75 homers in 2005-06 and has a pair of 40-homer seasons.
Both Rolen and Glaus underwent season-ending surgery in September. Rolen’s procedure cleaned up scar tissue that had limited mobility, while Glaus had a ruptured plantar fascia.
Glaus has begun a running program and plans to start hitting next week.
Last year, SI.com reported Glaus received steroids from Signature Pharmacy between September 2003 and May 2004. On Dec. 6, Major League Baseball said it found insufficient evidence to discipline him.
Rolen has three years and $36 million to go on an eight-year, $90 million deal signed in 2003, while Glaus is due $12 million this year with an $11.5 million player option for 2009.
Rolen has five 100-RBI seasons and four seasons with 30 or more homers. Before the relationship deteriorated, La Russa often said he’d never seen a better defensive third baseman, but Rolen’s offense has declined since a collision with Dodgers first baseman Hee-Seop Choi in May 2005.
The last three years, Rolen has missed 176 games. Most Cardinals wanted La Russa back for a 13th season, and Rolen was one of the lone dissenters.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.