Erick Fedde understands the importance he brings to the mound after reinventing himself. And he’s well aware that his 2025 salary does not reflect the performance that the St. Louis Cardinals want from him.
“I’m very proud to say that people view my contract as cheap,” Fedde told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this past weekend. It turns that Fedde has been following the tales this summer!
I’m not the only one who has said this, but Fedde has been a definite trading prospect for the Cardinals, and I believe he will bring them back significant value. Fedde returned from the KBO last year and pitched 177.1 innings (31 starts) for the White Sox and Cardinals, posting a 3.30 ERA. Fedde was one of baseball’s most valuable starters last season, despite earning only $7.5 million.
Looking at how the free agent market played out this offseason, it’s evident that Fedde would have received a considerably larger AAV if teams had been able to bid on him again, as well as more years.
To summarize, Fedde pitched like one of baseball’s best starters last year and makes extremely little money in comparison to his performance. What is the recipe for? Trade value.
That’s why I’m surprised the Cardinals aren’t aggressively shopping Fedde this offseason. But, well, it appears they may finally be doing so.
The Cardinals will be open to discussing an Erick Fedde trade if they have confidence in their young arms
In the same Derrick Goold piece from which Fedde’s statements came, Goold stated that sources have told him that the Cardinals will be open to considering a Fedde deal, especially if their young arms demonstrate readiness and the Cardinals can “afford” to forego current stability for future benefit.
True competing teams can never have enough pitching, and while some would undoubtedly want to acquire Fedde right now (the Tigers and Guardians have previously expressed interest), it’s also plausible that inevitable spring training injuries may generate an even larger market for Fedde.
Even aside from the potential worth of a Fedde trade, I don’t understand why the Cardinals aren’t actively attempting to generate rotation positions for their young guns. Michael McGreevy is poised to shine, and Quinn Mathews is obviously knocking on the door. Even if the Cardinals were correct to wait and see what happens in camp, other young guns have already shown promise.
Take Tekoah Roby as an example. Out of all of the Cardinals’ top pitching prospects, he is the one who has gotten lost in the flow the most during discussions about the future, particularly given his potential ceiling. Roby has struggled with injuries since joining the Rangers in the Jordan Montgomery trade, but after returning to camp healthy this year, he has really stolen the show.
Roby’s stuff has shone in bullpens and throughout live batting sessions. In his first spring training appearance of the year, he dominated with two scoreless innings and three strikeouts on Sunday.
Should the Cardinals include Roby in their Opening Day rotation already? Not so fast. But this has been my contention all winter: there are so many young arms who have the potential to take a step forward that the Cardinals should remove obstacles in their path so they can either sink or swim in St. Louis.
But, hey, maybe things will turn out lot better for the Cardinals than I’ve been giving them credit for lately. There is a universe here where keeping Fedde provides them significant bargaining power when a desperate contender comes knocking for pitching and no one else is prepared to deal with theirs. Sure, they could simply sign a seasoned free agent who is still available, but there is a reason for it. Fedde adds upside to a rotation.
I was skeptical that the Cardinals would even consider something like this, which is why I think this transaction should have been completed months ago. However, if they are genuinely open to listen to offers and actually pull the trigger, they may end up making my offseason critiques of this situation look foolish.
Keep an eye on the situation as the camp progresses. If the young arms continue to perform and injuries begin to appear in other major league camps, we could see a trade happen.
