Quick analysis of 3 winners from Matt Holliday trade to Cardinals:

1. Albert Pujols. Holliday moved from New York to Philly quickly enough to be the cleanup hitter tonight behind Pujols. The slugger is going after the Triple Crown. Mainly he is going after some pitches to hit. Pujols has 34 intentional walks. That is 21 more than anyone else. If right, Holliday should give opposing managers some pause in just walking Pujols.

2. Tony La Russa. He is in the final year of his contract and there is a lot of talk in the industry about tension between LaRussa and the front office. When Adam Kennedy was released in the offseason, for example, a few officials said Cardinals executives said they really didn’t want to do that, but had to throw a bone to La Russa every once in a while. So now with La Russa desiring another big bat — even after the acquisition of Mark De Rosa — the Cards probably feel it is right to give La Russa his last best shot to win a second title in St. Louis and third overall as a manager.

3. Scott Boras. The super agent reps Holliday. And while Holliday was coming on in recent weeks with Oakland, his overall numbers remained way down from his light-air days at Coors. Playing in a better lineup with a lot of attention and a playoff chance could enhance Holliday’s free agent market — it certainly will help more than staying in Oakland. And also the Cardinals now become somewhat more motivated to try to aggressively keep Holliday since they gave up prospects to get him. Also, the Cards want to keep Pujols happy so he eventually re-signs in St. Louis and providing a solid cleanup hitter could help with that. But anyone who compares this to Jim Edmonds and Mark McGwire is not paying attention to Boras’ history.

Edmonds and McGwire fell in love with St. Louis (a great baseball town) and signed long-term contracts to stay. But Boras clients — almost always — test the free-agent market to best gauge their value in an open market.