15 best trades in St. Louis Cardinals history

#15 - Frankie Frisch (1926)

Cardinals acquire: 2B Frankie Frisch and RHP Jimmy Ring
Giants acquire: 2B Rogers Hornsby

Total surplus fWAthe R: 25.5, -12 fWAR if you count Hornsby's production away from Giants

I decided to start this list out with a bang and perhaps the most controversial addition to this list.

In 1926, the Cardinals and the then-New York Giants made a rare Hall of Famer for Hall of Famer swap, with the Cardinals sending 2B Rogers Hornsby to the Giants in exchange for 2B Frankie Frisch and RHP Jimmy Ring.

Most Cardinals fans know about the greatness of Hornsby, but fewer know of Frisch, who finished in the top three in NL MVP voting and top 10 on another occasion for the Giants prior to being flipped for Hornsby, who was a level higher than Frisch as a player. While Hornsby won an MVP with St. Louis one year prior to being dealt for Frisch and won another MVP with the Cubs later in his career, Frisch would actually later go on to win an MVP with St. Louis in 1931 and finish runner-up in 1930.

You might be thinking to yourself - how on did this trade even come to be?

Well, prior to being traded, Hornsby found himself in some heated contract negotiations with Cardinals' owner Sam Breadon, who offered Hornsby just a one-year deal for $50,000, while Hornsby wanted a three-year deal with the same annual value. If you adjust for inflation, that would be the equivalent of asking for $881,000 today.

On one hand, we can shake our heads at the Cardinals for upsetting an all-time great like Hornsby, but on the other hand, it is rather impressive that they were able to flip him for another Hall of Famer.

This was only possible, though, because Frisch's relationship with his manager, John McGraw, had grown so sour that the Giants felt they needed to move on from their elite second baseman. And thus the change of scenery trade came to be.

Hornsby only spent one year with the Giants, spent the next season with the Boston Braves, and then had a four-year stint with the Chicago Cubs before turning to St. Louis to play for the Cardinals and then the Browns to finish his career. Hornsby accrued 37.5 fWAR after leaving St. Louis, so if you weighed that in, the Cardinals lost the deal by 12 fWAR overall.

But on the flip side, Frisch captured an MVP with the Cardinals, finished runner-up once, and top 20 on four other occasions to go along with three All-Star appearances and two World Series championships with St. Louis. Frisch was one of the best players in baseball during his time with St. Louis, so it's hard to call this a loss for St. Louis despite losing an all-time great in the deal.

Overall, Frisch finished his 11-year tenure with the Cardinals slashing .312/.370/.423 (.792) with 51 home runs and 720 RBI, striking out just 133 times in 5653 plate appearances.