Hoping to boost their playoff chances, the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles made waiver trades on Friday.

The Cardinals fortified their bullpen, while the Indians and Orioles bolstered their offenses after successfully claiming desired players off waivers.

Cardinals Acquire Axford From Brewers

The Cardinals acquired John Axford from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later. St. Louis will pay the $850,000 remaining on the right-hander's salary this season. He will be eligible for arbitration three more times and can be controlled through the 2016 season.

St. Louis has taxed their bullpen heavily as a result of short outings from their starting pitchers. Axford had a 4.45 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 54 innings for Milwaukee this season. In 2011, he had 46 saves, 86 strikeouts and a 1.95 ERA in 73-plus innings as the closer.

John Mozeliak not only adds a fresh arm to his bullpen for the stretch run, but also has an option going forward given Axford's contract status. That could turn out to be a huge factor this winter with Edward Mujica headed for free agency after a sizeable workload in 2013.

Grade for Cardinals: A

Axford has struggled since the beginning of last season, but his fastball velocity remains in line with his career average and late-inning relievers have become a valuable commodity. It remains to be seen exactly what the Brewers will receive in this deal, but it isn't going to be a top-flight prospect despite the ability to control Axford for another three seasons.

Grade for Brewers: D+

Indians Acquire Kubel From Diamondbacks

Less than five games out in the American League Wild Card race, the Cleveland Indians added Jason Kubel to their offense in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Indians will pay just $200,000 of the $2.27 million Kubel is owed (including the $1 million buyout on his $7.5 million option for 2014) and send the Diamondbacks a fringe prospect.

Kubel looked like a revelation in 2012, hitting .253/. 327/.506 with 30 home runs and 90 RBIs in 506 plate appearances, but regressed severely this season. He was hitting .220/.288/.324 when Arizona designated him for assignment earlier this week. 

As Jeff Todd of MLBTradeRumors.com points out, the trade is a strange one for the Indians. They are still paying Mark Reynolds as he plays for the New York Yankees -- a rival in the Wild Card race. Reynolds provides more defensive flexibility than Kubel and has shown some signs since joining the Yankees.

Cleveland also has several left-handed options at designated hitter and in the outfield, adding more to Terry Francona's plate over the final month of the season.

Grade for Indians: C-

The Diamondbacks were ready to pay Kubel to do nothing (much like he had been for a majority of the season) and this deal gives them some cash ($200K) and a prospect to soften the blow of the disappointment. Unless Kubel suddenly catches fire, Arizona wins this deal.

Grade for Diamondbacks: B+

Orioles Acquire Morse From Mariners

Dan Duquette has been busy this summer. After adding Scott Feldman, Francisco Rodriguez and Bud Norris in July, the Orioles traded prospect Xavier Avery to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Michael Morse. Baltimore had successfully claimed Morse and Josh Willingham (Minnesota Twins) on waivers.

After coming over in a three-term deal involving the Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals this past offseason, Morse has struggled with injuries and failed to produce when healthy. He is hitting .226/.283/.410 with 13 home runs in 307 plate appearances. Morse hit at least .289/.321/.470 in each of the last three seasons with the Nationals.

Morse will be a free agent after the season and has $1.1 million left on his contract, which the Orioles will pay over the final month of the season. Willingham (.212/.346/.383) is a more complete hitter, but Minnesota's asking price was too high.

He is a very poor defender, but the Orioles already have a stout outfield. The addition of Morse gives Buck Showalter the ability to platoon him with Nate McLouth. Morse is hitting .245/.312/.459 against lefties, but .216/.268/.384 against right-handers. McLouth is stronger against righties, hitting .283/.352/.420. He has a .202/.282/.333 line against left-handers.

Grade for Orioles: B

The Mariners added Avery, who ranked as Baltimore's No. 10 prospect recently. The outfielder is hitting .237/.312/.312 in 333 plate appearances with 29 stolen bases in 37 attempts across the Double-A and Triple-A levels. He hit .300/.391/.406 in 186 plate appearances at Double-A prior to his promotion to the highest level of the minor leagues.

Keeping Morse wasn't doing the Mariners any good and he would have left as a free agent anyway. Adding a speedy 23-year-old to the organization was a no-brainer.

Grade for the Mariners: A-