Shortly after trading Jon Lester to the Oakland Athletics for Yoenis Cespedes, the Boston Red Sox sent another member of their 2013 World Series starting rotation packing.

Boston dealt Lackey to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for Allen Craig and Joe Kelly. Lackey is the second starter the defending National League champions have acquired this week. They landed Justin Masterson in a trade with the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.

Lackey, who will turn 36 in October, has pitched well for the second-straight season coming off Tommy John surgery. He had a 3.60 ERA, 1.231 WHIP and 116 strikeouts (32 walks) in 137.1 innings for the Red Sox.

If you rank them by WAR, Lackey becomes the third-best starter in the Cardinals’ rotation. He contributed 1.6 WAR to the Red Sox, while Adam Wainwright (4.8) and Lance Lynn (1.7) have done more for St. Louis to this point. If Michael Wacha returns healthy in September as expected, the Cardinals will feature a strong playoff rotation with a nice mix of veterans, stars at their peak and youngsters.

St. Louis is in a race with the Milwaukee Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates for the NL Central crown. Of those three teams, the Cardinals did the most to boost their chances ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

In addition to Lackey, the Cardinals also acquired minor league left-hander Corey Littrell and cash from the Red Sox.

Lackey is owed a little more than $5 million over the remainder of the season, but could pitch for peanuts in 2015. There is an option in his deal at just $500,000 and he reportedly told the Cardinals that he intends to honor it. That means St. Louis will pay the right-hander less than $6 million (not taking cash received into account) for roughly 40 starts. That’s a bargain in today’s economic landscape.

Grade for St. Louis: B+

The Cardinals won’t pay Lackey much, but they did trade two Major League-tested players for him. Craig has struggled, but many believe his issues are mechanical and can be rectified with work. He is owed more than $26 million through the 2017 season and if he returns to usual form -- .306/.358/.492 in 1,420 plate appearances -- would be a nice piece for what has become a revamped Boston roster.

Craig spends some time in the outfield, which is a position of organizational strength for the Cardinals. Even after trading James Ramsey to the Cleveland Indians in the Masterson deal, they have a few impressive outfield prospects in the pipeline. This trade could mean Oscar Taveras becomes the team’s everyday right fielder. Perhaps in a harbinger of things to come, Taveras homered against the San Diego Padres just hours after the deal.

Kelly is under team control through the 2018 season and despite a disappointing effort in 2014, he provides an intriguing option in the rotation. At 26 and with just 38 Major League starts under his belt, he is still finding his way on the mound. His 4.37 ERA, 1.457 WHIP and 2.50 K/BB ratio this year aren’t very reassuring, but Ben Cherington is banking on that being an aberration.

Grade for Red Sox: B-

At current face value, Craig and Kelly don’t seem like much of a return, but they provide long-term value for the Red Sox. That is especially the case if they are able cure what has ailed the duo this season. Lackey would have been an incredibly cheap and effective starter in 2015, but instead they are able to plug two holes.

Craig, who can also play first base and seems like a perfect replacement for David Ortiz at DH if he ever retires or moves on, will provide an offensive jolt to an outfield that also added Cespedes on Thursday. The combination of Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Cespedes can help mask any defensive shortcomings Craig has in the Fenway Park outfield.

Amid a disappointing season, the Red Sox are attempting to quickly retool for 2015. In a matter of hours they turned Lester and Lackey, who have one combined season left on their contracts, into three Major Leaguers under team control for a combined eight seasons.