One of the best unsung trades the Cardinals have made in the past 20 years or so came on Aug. 2, 2001, when two 34-year-olds who were not enjoying particularly good seasons were involved in a post-deadline deal with the San Diego Padres as the party of the second part.
With both players having cleared waivers after the July 31 deadline, the Cardinals sent outfielder Ray Lankford, hitting .235, to San Diego for righthander Woody Williams, who was 8-8 but with a 4.97 earned run average. The Cardinals were 7½ games off the pace and in third place in the National League Central Division at the time so this deal wasn’t exactly the talk of the baseball world.