On Saturday Cardinals 37 year old center fielder Jim Edmonds was dealt to the San Diego Padres for prospect third baseman David Freese.

“I’m kind of shocked but excited because I get to be in Southern California next to my family and play for a contending team in a beautiful ballpark,” Edmonds said during a conference call from his offseason home in Irvine.

Edmonds hit 12 home runs and had 53 RBI’s to go with a .252 batting average in 2007. 24 year old Freese hit .302 with 17 HR’s and 96 RBI’s for the Class A level Lake Elsinore Storm in 2007.

Its been a busy busy week for baseball trades. Dan Haren was traded with Connor Robertson to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a huge 8 player deal. Also involved in the deal were Jose Valverde who will now close with the Houston Astros, Chris Burke who will play for the D-Backs, and Chad Qualls who’s now an Arizona Diamondback.

There were also quite a few signings this week of note, including Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda who signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Lamb who was inked to a 2 year deal with the Minnesota Twins, Glendon Rusch and Shawn Estes who were signed to the Padres, Edgardo Alfonzo who signed with the Texas Rangers, Sal Fasano who signed with the Toronto blue Jays, Pete Orr, Willie Harris and Rob Mackowiak who signed with the Washington Nationals and TJ Beam who signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.