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Acquiring Brandon Moss from Indians makes very little sense for Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals may be without Matt Holliday for an extended period after he reinjured his quad Wednesday night, which probably led to the quick acquisition of Brandon Moss from the Cleveland Indians for one of the Cardinals' top prospects, left-hander Rob Kaminsky, but it seems like a significant overpayment for a player who doesn't materially change their chances of winning the division or making the playoffs and could easily be omitted from the postseason roster in October.

The 2013 version of Moss appears to be a fluke in hindsight, much as it did at the time that it occurred, and over the last 365 days he's hitting .201/.298/.364 with strikeouts in 30 percent of his plate appearances. He does have plus raw power -- he has 17 home runs in that span, which considering his low contact rate is solid -- but that's most of what the Cardinals are buying, along with average defense in an outfield corner.