The Cardinals’ justifications for the terrible Tommy Edman deal are becoming absurd.
One of Andrew Freedman’s greatest moves may be the historic three-team deal that sent switch hitter Tommy Edman from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The same cannot be said for John Mozeliak, the president of baseball operations for the Cardinals, who signed a contract with the White Sox to acquire outfielder Tommy Pham and right-handed starting pitcher Erick Fedde. Despite the Cardinals’ best efforts, this move hasn’t held up over time.
Edman is a key component of the Dodgers, who are currently two victories away from winning their ninth World Series, something that no one anticipated going into the postseason. After an absolutely amazing series against the Mets, in which he hit at.407 and had an incredible.630 slugging percentage, he was voted the NLCS MVP.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, are ready to start rebuilding this summer after completely missing the playoffs.
Check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders Podcast, sign up for our monthly MLB newsletter, The Moonshot, and join the discord channel for additional news and rumors as the MLB offseason approaches.
Tommy Edman was acquired by the Dodgers in an attempt to contend for the pennant.
The most popular justification offered by some in the Cardinals organization for the trade is that Edman probably would not have achieved the success he has in Los Angeles if he had remained in St. Louis. This is probably accurate, but it misses the point entirely: the postseason was the main focus.
Since completing the Edman trade, the Cardinals’ situation has significantly changed. They made the transaction in the hopes that it would strengthen their squad enough to make it into the wild card round, since they were in the postseason race at the time of the trade deadline. The case for the trade being a “win-win” agreement at the time was strong, but obtaining Fedde and Pham did not satisfy.
When playing for the Cardinals, both guys played poorly. Fedde’s ERA increased from 3.11 in 21 White Sox starts to 3.72 in 10 Cardinals starts. After being selected by the Kansas City Royals and hitting.333 before to the Royals’ elimination by the Yankees in the Division Series, Pham, who had been DFA’d when it became apparent that the team would miss the playoffs, rediscovered success in October.
All they got out of the transaction was an experienced loner that they threw away and a starter who regressed as soon as he got there. Let’s now examine what they sacrificed.
At the time of the deal, Edman was still recuperating from wrist surgery that was performed over the offseason. It wasn’t until mid-August that he made his Dodgers season debut. The Cardinals were out of the running for the playoffs at that moment. In the near run, it was essentially a wash for the Cardinals to give up Edman.
What lies ahead
A different image emerges when one looks ahead to the upcoming season. The 2021 Gold Glove Award winner, a valuable utility player who shown great offensive promise in his rookie season in 2019 before hitting about league average the next three seasons, was traded by the Cardinals.
Edman’s return would not have had much of an impact on the Cardinals this season, but his recent success with the Dodgers indicates that he still has one more year left on his contract and that he can still be an offensive weapon.
The fact that Edman would be departing the Cardinals after the 2025 season regardless of the circumstances is one reason in favor of the deal. Even while this could be the case, the Cardinals might have used this strategy more effectively in the trade market the following season.
If Edman had played as well as he is now, trading for him next season may have resulted in a higher return. The Cardinals may have made a wise trade at the time, but as soon as they were out of the postseason, the deal fell through. That cannot be justified in any way.
The Cardinals’ impending rebuilding attempts may be impacted by the transfer. Although hindsight is 20/20, it would have been wiser to trade Edman for future assets this offseason or the next season.
As they watch their former player excel in the World Series, the Cardinals must now plan their reconstruction without Edman.
