Cardinals acquire pitcher Eric Fedde from White Sox in three-way deal with Dodgers

By Katie Wu, Ken Rosenthal, Fabian Ardaya and Zach Maisel

The St. Louis Cardinals are acquiring starting pitcher Eric Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham from the Chicago White Sox as part of a three-way deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, multiple league sources reported. The athleteThe Dodgers will receive center fielder Tommy Edman from the Cardinals and pitcher Michael Kopech from the White Sox, while center fielder Miguel Vargas and several promising players will be sent to Chicago. The Cardinals have long targeted Fede to help bolster their rotation depth.

After spending 2023 with the NC Dinos in South Korea, Fedde is back in the big leagues and finally living up to the potential that once followed him as a first-round pick and a consensus top-100 prospect. He’s nothing exciting — a sinker, a cutter, a sweeper, a changeup. Nothing overwhelming, nothing that induces a lot of swinging and missing. But he’s limited hard contact and limited walks and has been a consistent high performer in Chicago’s rotation. Both the Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers have been chasing Fedde in recent days. Fedde’s 3.11 ERA currently ranks 11th in the American League among qualified starters.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak was aiming to land a starting pitcher without additional payroll for this season and next.

The defensive prowess of Michael Ciani, coupled with the consistent play of Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson, made Edman a expendable player. In acquiring Pham, the Cardinals reunite with a solid right-handed outfielder who can play center and throw left-handed. St. Louis ranks second to last in baseball in OPS against lefties, and their lack of a true right-handed bat off the bench has been a headache for manager Ollie Marmol throughout this first half.

Pham, who made his debut with the Cardinals in 2014, expressed interest during the offseason in returning to St. Louis. Initial projections suggest Pham will start in the outfield against left-handed pitchers, while Ciani will continue to play center field against right-handed starters.

Tommy Edman will not play in the majors in 2024 as he recovers from wrist surgery in the postseason. (Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports)

The Cardinals, who entered Monday one game out of the National League playoff picture, were looking to help their experienced rotation alongside Sonny Gray and Kyle Gibson. In the end, Fede, who had been heavily interested throughout the market, signed with St. Louis in a team-friendly deal. He signed a two-year, $15 million contract before the 2024 season and is due $7.5 million in 2025.

The move for Edman, who has yet to play a major league game this season due to postseason wrist surgery, will save the Cardinals about $9.5 million in salary. Edman signed a two-year, $16 million extension in January to continue his arbitration years. The Dodgers have been aggressive about Edman, who fills their need for depth in the middle infield as a very useful option.

The Dodgers’ signing of Edman fills a number of holes in a roster that is heavily dependent on high salaries and appears to have plenty of them. Edman has a history at shortstop and center field, two potential areas of need on a roster currently without Mookie Betts (broken hand) and Miguel Rojas (flexor strain) and signed Nick Ahmed last week as a stopgap. The Dodgers have had the third-worst production in the majors this year in center field according to Van Graaf’s rankings, relying heavily on starters Andy Biggs and James Oatman at the position.

Kopech’s experience in the relief bullpen after becoming a top prospect in the starting pitching field has been mixed — he posted a 4.74 ERA in 43 2/3 innings along with a 4.82 FIP — but some of the underlying numbers still show signs of potential promise for a Dodgers relief bullpen that needs a massive boost after taking on the biggest workload in the sport in July. Kopech still has excellent velocity, averaging 98.6 mph on a fastball with good stretch and the ability to swing and miss. The problem is reducing the hard contact.

The Dodgers are moving toward parting ways with Vargas, a 24-year-old slugger who, despite occasional brilliance with the bat, has never found a true home in Los Angeles. The club made Vargas an Opening Day starter in 2023, but a series of hand injuries sapped his offensive output (.672 OPS) and he was sent back to the lower division by the All-Star break. This year, Vargas has seen time largely in left field but has been taking ground balls at third base and looked close to switching spots again before being moved. In 80 plate appearances amid sporadic playing time, Vargas has hit .239/.313/.423.

(Top photo of Eric Fede: Michael Reeves/Getty Images)