At the time, it really didn’t seem like that bad of a deal when the Atlanta Braves acquired J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero from the Cardinals. Of course, when you give away prospects, there’s always the chance that they can develop into something good.
This was a case of the Braves wanting Drew badly to fill out a team that they believed would be able to compete deep into the playoffs again.
You’d have to argue that this worked as intended, too: Drew had his career-best season in 2004, hitting .