Trade deadline notes: Jonathan Broxton heads to Cardinals; Carlos Gomez and Mike Leake leave NL Central

Other than recent trades for Joakim Soria and Joe Blanton to remake their pitching staff, the Pirates have been relatively quiet at the trade deadline. Here's what's happened elsewhere in the NL Central, though.

• The Cardinals acquired Jonathan Broxton and cash for low-level outfield prospect Malik Callymore. This isn't a huge move for the Cards, but it also isn't the joke it initially seems to be. Broxton's 5.89 ERA this season has been disastrous, but he still throws hard and has dramatically improved his strikeout rate over years past. The Cardinals and Brewers made a somewhat similar trade two years ago in which the Cardinals acquired another hard-throwing, struggling former closer, John Axford. Axford was terrific down the stretch for St. Louis, and since it's the Cardinals, it's easy to imagine history repeating itself with Broxton.
• The Brewers also traded Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Astros and Gerardo Parra to the Orioles. They gave up a year and a half of control of Gomez and several for Fiers, so they were able to get a good package -- outfielders Domingo Santana and Brett Phillips and pitchers Adrian Houser and Josh Hader. Both Santana and Phillips have lots of offensive upside, and it's not out of the question Santana could make an impact right away. Hader and Houser are lower-tier guys, but they'll provide valuable depth for the Brewers' farm system. In return for Parra, the Brewers got from Houston and pitching prospect Zach Davies from Baltimore. Parra was only a rental, and despite some hot hitting this year, he isn't Gomez, so it's no surprise that the Brewers didn't get as much for him as they did for Gomez and Fiers. But Davies is a pretty good righty who could eat innings for them as soon as next year. Overall, the Brewers gave up a fair amount of talent, but they got a bunch of young talent in return.
• The Reds, meanwhile, announced that they shipped Mike Leake to the Giants for pitcher Keury Mella and infielder Adam Duvall. Mella is a good pickup for the Reds -- he's 21, and it will be a couple years before he might get a chance in the big leagues, but he has a good minor league track record and everyone seems to like his sinking fastball. Duvall is probably mostly a throw-in since he's 26 and has limited big-league experience, but he's hit well in the minors, and it wouldn't be a shock if the Reds got a couple good years from him. If they do, it might be in the outfield, since he usually plays first and third and the Reds have stars at both positions.