It’s safe to say that Erick Fedde did not let the St. Louis Cardinals down when he took the field on Friday against the Washington Nationals, with whom he played for the first six seasons of his Major League Baseball career. In a 10-0 victory for St. Louis, the right-hander recorded his first full game shutout. He gave up just six hits and struck out eight without walking a batter. He was in charge. His impressive performance only serves to increase the predictability of St. Louis’ trade deadline plans.
The Cardinals are currently 20-19 and in second place in the NL Central after that victory. They are closer to fourth place in their division than they are to first, despite their strong start to the season. In a crowded National League, it is unrealistic to expect this squad to qualify for the postseason.
Because of this, it has been generally anticipated that the Cardinals will sell when the trade deadline in July comes around, and Fedde may be the first to leave.
Cardinals have no reason not to trade Erick Fedde by the trade deadline
Fedde has a 3.86 ERA in his eight starts and 46.2 innings of work thus far, and even that isn’t fully representative of how good he’s performed at times. The right-hander has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his eight outings and has tossed at least six innings in every one of those appearances. Although he has had a few bad games, he has generally performed admirably for St. Louis.
The Cardinals will probably go in this path for a few reasons, even if it may seem strange to see them want to get go of a good pitcher. First, as was already noted, this team’s prospects of making the playoffs seem quite remote. Second, Fedde’s contract is in its last year. He is 32 years old, but the Cardinals may try to extend him. They shouldn’t try to construct a long-term team around him.
By trading him, the Cardinals will be able to acquire young players to help them retool and make room for a younger arm, such as Michael McGreevy or perhaps Quinn Mathews, if he can recover. For a franchise that seems to be more future-oriented, that seems like the best of all worlds.
No matter how he pitches, Fedde has little chance of staying in St. Louis at the end of the season or even after the deadline. Because of this, he may seek a greater type of return at the deadline if he performs better. His trading worth only rose as a result of his performance on Friday.
