St. Louis Cardinals: Ranking the 10 best trades in the last 20 years

6. December 15, 2007: St. Louis Cardinals lore- “We will see you…tomorrow night!”
Cardinals Receive: David Freese
Padres Receive: Jim Edmonds
Another trade that was essential in putting together a World Series run and not much else, the importance of acquiring David Freese is obvious to Cardinal fans. He stuck around for longer and did more in saving the World Series run than Weaver did, which is why this trade goes above Weaver’s.
While giving up a guy like Jim Edmonds was unfortunate, he was towards the end of his career, and a change was needed. Safe to say, it worked for the better.
Edmonds was just about ready to make his gracious leave across the horizon at 37. After posting over 30 oWAR for the all but his last two seasons with the Cardinals, it was clear that time was just about up. He played 197 games over the next three seasons, and was just a shadow of his former self both offensively and defensively.
Freese stayed with the Cardinals for two seasons after the 2011 World Series win, and spent 5 years in total with the club after being promoted to the Cardinals major league affiliate in 2009. He finished his St. Louis career with a .286/.356/.427 line with 91 homers and 455 RBI’s. A pretty good return on someone fighting Father Time.