Cardinals-Cubs Stunner Named No. 2 Trade In St. Louis History

The St. Louis Cardinals haven't been afraid to make big deals over the year.

Even in recent memory, the Cardinals have utilized the trade market heavily. St. Louis acquired both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado through trades and even more recently sent guys away like Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty.

There have been a lot of successful trades over the years for the Cardinals and some not-so-good ones as well. Recently, FanSided's Josh Jacobs compiled a list of the 15 best trades in team history and had the team's acquisition of Ozzie Smith at No. 1 and followed by the team landing Lou Brock from the Chicago Cubs at No. 2.

"No. 2 - Lou Brock (1964)," Jacobs said. "Cardinals acquire: OF Lou Brock, LHP Jack Spring, and RHP Paul Toth. Cubs acquire: OF Doug Clemens, RHP Ernie Broglio, and LHP Bobby Shantz. Total surplus fWAR: 44.0. Thank you, Cubbies! The little brother up north gifted the Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock, and St. Louis is forever grateful!

"After a cup of coffee with Chicago in 1961 and three and a half mediocre seasons to follow, the Cubs traded Brock to the Cardinals in a six-player deal on June 15th. It was a trade that baffled Cardinals fans and left Cubs fans over the moon at the time of the deal, as the Cardinals gave up starting pitcher Ernie Broglio, who was one of the best pitchers in baseball the two years prior. Well, Broglio fell off fast for the Cubs, and Brock went on the be a Hall of Famer."

This one certainly helped the Cardinals and it makes it even better that it was thanks to the Cubs.