Cardinals acquire Steve Cishek from Marlins

The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired right-hander Steve Cishek from the Miami Marlins, they announced on Friday. In return, the Marlins received Double-A righty Kyle Barraclough. 

Cishek is bullpen depth for the Cardinals, who just lost Matt Belisle to elbow inflammation. He was transferred to the 60-day disabled list in order to make room for Cishek on the 40-man roster.

The 29-year-old submariner has had a roller coaster of a season. He was removed from the closer's role in Miami following four blown saves in seven chances, including an ERA that was over 10 as late as May 11. 

Since that time, however, Cishek has seemed to figure things out, pitching to a 1.31 ERA over the 20 2/3 innings he pitched. These recent performances, plus the fact that he came with closing experience (Cishek saved 30+ games each of the past two years), made him a possibly valuable trade candidate. 

Cishek received interest from multiple teams, including the Pirates and Dodgers, as Joe Frisaro of MLB.com said. 

Also according to Frisaro, the Cardinals will take on the rest of Cishek's contract. He was a second-time arbitration player this season and made $6.65 million. Because he is a former Super Two player, Cishek is signed through the 2017 season. 

Overall, Cishek is 2-6 with a 4.50 ERA (3.44 FIP) in 32 appearances this season. Over his 32 innings of work, Cishek has a 28 to 14 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

--Devan Fink

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