While Jason Heyward isn't exactly the baseball player that the St. Louis Cardinals want, he may be the player that the team needs for their foray into the Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

The Cardinals initially sought a power bat. They didn't get it. Instead, they got an upgrade to at right field.

Like Us on Facebook

The price for obtaining Heyward was a big one. The Cardinals gave up relief pitcher, Shelby Miller and pitcher, Tyrell Jenkins to the Braves for just one year with Heyward, in exchange for about 10 of their traded players.

The team was able to obtain exclusive rights to talk with Heyward about an extension for the next year. They will also be able to show Heyward the Cardinals Organization for a year.

However, the real reason that they traded for Heyward is the fact that he is a big improvement, both offensively and defensively, over what the Cardinals initially received from right field in 2014.

The trade for Heyward immediately fixed the Cardinals' hole in right field, while also allowing for the rotation to include younger and more cost-effective players.

At 25-years old, Heyward ranks first in fan graphs (fWAR) among National League corner outfielders over the past three seasons.

With all the trading, Heyward is by the far the best player throughout all of them.

The loss of Miller is not a hard-hitting one, with Carlos Martinez or Marco Gonzales set to replace him and Jaime Garcia, Tim Cooney, and Tyler Lyons in reserve.

With that set up, any trade will leave holes in a team. Losing Miller has given holes in the Cardinals' pitchers.

Miller was picked up right out of high school as the first round draft pick in 2009. Less than a year later, he was already one of the top 50 prospects in baseball.

This is where John Mozeliak's ability as general manager came in to play. Foreseeing the eventual holes in his team's future game, he went out and procured hard-throwing pitcher, Jordan Walden.

Tagsjason heyward, mlb, St. Louis Cardinals