Thoughts on the Matt Holliday Trade

---Matt Holliday has been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. In Holliday, Tony LaRussa's team has added one of the game's most outstanding hitters. An Albert Pujols-Matt Holliday duo should scare the hell out of opposing pitchers.

---This trade makes the first-place Cardinals the undeniable favorite to win the NL Central. At this very moment, Cubs GM Jim Hendry, Astros GM Ed Wade, and Brewers GM Doug Melvin should be working the phones, scrambling in search of a response to the Holliday trade.

---The Holliday trade comes mere weeks after the Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa from Cleveland, and mere days after they acquired Julio Lugo from the Red Sox. Could St. Louis also be in the market for Roy Halladay?

---Holliday's numbers were down for his standards in his first season with the Oakland Athletics, but he is still an imposing force at the plate. Playing on a contending team for the first time since 2007 in Colorado should spark increased production.

---The A's traded Holliday to St. Louis in exchange for a handful of prospects. No surprise there. But don't get too excited A's fans. You can always count on Billy Beane to trade away the prospects just when they start to become productive at the major-league level. That's his trademark. Billy Beane, beloved in the baseball world and known for his "Moneyball" approach, is one of the most overrated general managers in sports.

---If I'm Tony LaRussa, I bat Matt Holliday in the clean-up position behind Pujols. That way teams would have to think twice before giving an intentional pass to Pujols.

---This is the first major trade of the baseball season. The July 31 trade deadline is just a week away, and tune in next Friday for my live-blog of the day's events.