Report: Cardinals deal Edmonds to Padres

~ Eckstein ends his three-year stay with Cardinals by signingwith the Blue Jays.

Center fielder Jim Edmonds has played his last game for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Edmonds was traded to the San Diego Padres for a minor leaguer and cash Friday, according to a report by Tom Krasovic on the San Diego Union-Tribune's Web site.

The Cardinals traded Edmonds to the Padres for Class A third baseman David Freese and cash, according to the report.

Freese batted .302 with 17 homers and 96 RBIs for the Lake Elsinore Storm of the Class A Advanced California League last season.

The Web site's report says that the deal could be finalized today.

Edmonds, an eight-time Gold Glove winner, has been with the Cardinals since the 2000 season. He batted over .300 in three seasons in St. Louis, but settled for a a .252 average, 12 homers and 53 RBIs in 2007.

Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on the newspaper's Web site that the 24-year old Freese is a Lafayette High School alum.

Edmonds isn't the only Cardinals player from the 2006 World Series champions who won't return next season.

Even though they already had a shortstop, the Toronto Blue Jays weren't going to miss a chance to acquire David Eckstein.

The 2006 World Series MVP passed his physical Friday and finalized a $4.5 million, one-year contract with the Blue Jays, who had planned to enter next season with John McDonald as their everyday shortstop.

General manager J.P. Ricciardi said Eckstein's attitude and offensive skills were too good to resist.

"He's a great clubhouse guy. He's a leader," Ricciardi said. "The more guys we can have like this helps to lengthen our lineup."

The 5-foot-7, 175-pound Eckstein is expected to bat leadoff for Toronto. The St. Louis Cardinals declined to re-sign him after he made a career-high 20 errors in 117 games last season. He was better at the plate, hitting a career-best .309 with three homers, 31 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

Eckstein batted .364 with four RBIs and three doubles against Detroit in the 2006 World Series as St. Louis won in five games for its first championship since 1982. He also helped the Anaheim Angels win the 2002 World Series.

"There's a lot of stability that comes with him," Ricciardi said.

Eckstein didn't need much persuading to accept Toronto's offer.

"It's definitely a great opportunity," he said. "They have a great ballclub intact. When they came and said they were interested in me, I got very excited because I think they have a good chance to win."

The move means McDonald, who signed a $3.8 million, two-year contract in September, will be relegated to a backup.

"I don't think you'll see John just sit on the bench," Ricciardi said. "It's conceivable that when we have certain guys on the mound who are groundball pitchers, Johnny may get the nod. We'll utilize him to the best of our ability to take advantage of what he is, which is a very good defensive player."

Eckstein, who turns 33 next month, was an NL All-Star in 2005 and 2006.

"He's a very good offensive player, a .350 on-base guy," Ricciardi said. "He's a tough, tough guy to strike out. You can do a lot of things with him, you can hit-and-run him. He handles the bat really well."

Eckstein, who replaced fan favorite Edgar Renteria when he joined the Cardinals before the 2005 season, has known McDonald since they played against each other in the minors. Eckstein said he'll ask McDonald to help ease his adjustment back to the American League.