15 best trades in St. Louis Cardinals history

#4 - Jim Edmonds (2000)

Cardinals acquire: OF Jim Edmonds
Angels acquire: 2B Adam Kennedy and RHP Kent Bottenfield

Total surplus fWAR: 26.3

One of the biggest Hall of Fame snubs in modern history, Jim Edmonds is one of the best center fielders to ever play the game of baseball, and the Angels foolishly traded Edmonds to the Cardinals to help accelerate St. Louis's rise to power in the 2000s.

While the Angels did win a World Series in 2002, thanks in part to acquiring valuable infielder Adam Kennedy in the deal to help round out their core and put up 15.7 fWAR in his seven seasons with the Angels before returning to St. Louis, Edmonds' 42.3 fWAR was the sixth most in all of baseball from 2000-2007.

During his time with St. Louis, Edmonds won six straight Gold Gloves, was named to three All-Star teams, won one Silver Slugger, and finished top five in MVP voting twice, to go along with receiving MVP votes in three other seasons.

As a center fielder, the power that Edmonds brought to the plate, mixed with some of the best defense out there we have ever seen, was a sight to behold. Edmonds ranks 13th among center fielders all-time in SLG and ninth in home runs. He also ranks 24th among center fielders all time in wRC+ (133), surprisingly above Ken Griffey Jr., and 13th all time in career fWAR with 64.5.

Among Cardinals all-time, Edmonds is fourth in home runs, fifth in OPS, sixth in SLG and OBP, eighth in wRC+, ninth in walks and fWAR, 13th in RBI, and 27th in games played for the organization all-time. While hitting in the same lineup as Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen surely helped him (just as his presence helped them), I think it's fair to say that his star didn't shine as bright as it could have been in the shadow of Pujols, and to a much lesser extent, Rolen.

That didn't stop Edmonds from showing up when the lights were the brightest, though, as he came up with a number of iconic postseason moments that amassed to a .277/.368/.523 slash line with 13 HR and 41 RBI in 61 postseason games with St. Louis. Edmonds was a key cog in the 2006 World Series championship team as well as a major reason why they even made the World Series in 2004.

Defensively, it's hard to put into words just how dynamic a center fielder Edmonds was. Defensive runs saved only entered the scene late in Edmonds' career, but even as Edmonds' range had fallen off by then, his outfield arm runs above average graded out as second best all-time since they started keeping track, and ranks seventh all-time in outfield assists among center fielders. A quick YouTube search will help you find a compilation of some of the most incredible catches you'll ever see from an outfielder by Edmonds as well.

Along with becoming one of the best players in franchise history, Edmonds also gets the bonus of helping the Cardinals acquire David Freese during the 2007 offseason. Edmonds was dealt to the Padres along with $2 million in cash in exchange for the St. Louis native Freese, who would become the hometown hero and Cardinals legend in 2011 when he guided them to a World Series title.