Speechless

I never thought this was gonna happen: Players pass physicals; Rolen-for-Glaus all but done

Scott Rolen and Troy Glaus each passed his physical today, according to a major league source, and the paperwork needed to complete the swap of All-Star third basemen will be submitted to the commissioner's office.

The trade, which will send Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays and bring Glaus to the Cardinals, could be completed as early as this afternoon.

In one sense this could be viewed as treading water. Whatever Glaus provides could have been provided by Rolen (at least theoretically.)

However, the reality of this is far bigger and better for the Cardinals. The Cards will not have enough hitting or pitching this year to compete for any titles, but the Rolen situation threatened to hang over the entire season like the morning bathroom stench after a night of Michelob and LaBamba Super Burritos.

In addition to waiving his no-trade clause, the Cardinals also wanted Glaus to trigger his $11.25 million player option for 2009. According to sources, the Cardinals would not make the deal if they were getting Glaus for one season.

Glaus agreed to do so, several sources confirmed.

The four-time All-Star will be owed $24 million over the next two seasons. Rolen has three years and $36 million remaining on an eight-year, $90 million deal he signed shortly after coming to the Cardinals in 2002. It's not clear whether the trade also involves an exchange of cash to offset the additional weight of Rolen's contract.

Glaus, 31, has missed at least 45 games in three of the previous five seasons. During spring training last year, Glaus began having trouble with his foot. That landed him on the disabled list in April and caused him to miss games throughout the season. He played in 115, hitting 20 home runs and driving in 62 while hitting .262 with a .473 slugging percentage.

In September, he yielded to the pain in his heel and had surgery to ease the pressure on a nerve in his foot.

"He battled it," Nicotera said. "He battled it and tried to manage it because he didn't want to stop playing. It got to the point where it was clear he just had to get it fixed."

Glaus will be a bit of a gamble, but you were never going to do better in a swap for a banged up and questionable Rolen. In fact, I never thought the Mozeliak could get this much for Rolen.

.500 now seems doable. Its not much, but its improvement.