15 best trades in St. Louis Cardinals history

#14 - John Tudor (1984)

Cardinals acquire: LHP John Tudor and C Brian Harper
Pirates acquire: OF George Hendrick and 3B Steve Barnard

Total surplus fWAR: 12.9

The Cardinals appeared in two World Series during the mid to late 1980s, but if it wasn't for the shrewd acquisition of left-handed starter John Tudor, they likely wouldn't have had that kind of success.

Tudor was a fine starter for the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates during the first six years of his career, but he jolted into stardom after being acquired in a trade by St. Louis heading into the 1985 season. The Cardinals parted ways with an awesome outfielder in George Hendrick, who finished top-15 in NL MVP voting for St. Louis in four consecutive years before a down year in 1984.

Going into his age-35 season, the Cardinals got the Pirates to bite on Hendricks' prior production, and he didn't last past the trade deadline with Pittsburgh before being dealt to the Angels, where he had one solid year in 1986 before tapering off completely.

Tudor, on the other hand, finished second in NL Cy Young voting for the Cardinals in 1985, going 21-8 with a 1.93 ERA in 275 innings pitched for St. Louis. It's one of the best single individual seasons by a Cardinals starter in franchise history, which propelled them to a World Series matchup with the Kansas City Royals that year.

Tudor pitched two gems in that series, holding the Royals to one run in 6.2 innings in Game 1 and then spinning a complete game shutout in Game 4 to give the Cardinals a 3-1 series lead over the Royals. But then, one of the worst calls in baseball history cost the Cardinals a World Series championship.

In Game 6, umpire Don Denkinger ruled that Jorge Orta of the Royals was safe at first base on what should have clearly been the final out of the game and cementing the Cardinals as World Series champions, but instead, "The Call" went the Royals' way. To the Royals' credit, they used that lifeline to swipe Game 6 from the Cardinals, setting up a winner-takes-all Game 7.

Who knows if the deflating nature of Game 6 played a major role, but Tudor collapsed in Game 7, allowing five runs in just 2.1 innings of work as the Royals blew out the Cardinals in Game 7, and thus were declared infamous World Series champions.

Overall, the trade was a huge win for the Cardinals, though, as Tudor had a great three and a half year run with the club and helped them reach the World Series again in 1987. 3B prospect Steven Barnard, who was the other player the Pirates acquired in that deal, never made it past the Single-A level, giving the Pirates a total of -1.1 fWAR acquired in this deal.

Tudor posted a 2.61 ERA in his first three seasons with St. Louis and was then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the 1988 season as the Cardinals fell out of contention, where Tudor would take home his first and only World Series title in 1988.