Cardinals trade deadline castoff lands major-league deal with former club

Erick Fedde's tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals was a disaster, and that's speaking generously.

The 32-year-old starter covered more than 100 innings with the Redbirds last year, getting hammered to the tune of a 5.22 ERA and 5.13 FIP. He barely struck out more guys than he walked, surrendered 14 home runs in 20 starts, and generally looked washed up every time he took the mound.

Somehow, the Cardinals convinced the Atlanta Braves (who needed literally anybody with a functioning throwing arm) to take Fedde off their hands around the trade deadline, though he was even worse there (8.10 ERA). He was soon cut loose, and landed with the Milwaukee Brewers for the remainder of the regular season.

Considering that he remained unsigned deep into the winter, one would have expected Fedde to settle for a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training. But never doubt the desperation of rebuilding MLB teams. The Chicago White Sox have inked Fedde to a one-year deal for the 2026 season.

White Sox reunite with Erick Fedde, hoping to remove stink of 2025 season with Cardinals

Fedde was never a candidate to return to St. Louis, even as a sign-and-flip candidate, with the team going all-in on a rebuild this offseason.

Between new additions Dustin May, Hunter Dobbins, and Richard Fitts (shoutout to the Boston Red Sox), the Cardinals' rotation figures to be full when accounting for holdover options like Michael McGreevy, Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante, and Kyle Leahy. There is a youth movement happening in the Gateway City, with Chaim Bloom's fingerprints already all over this roster.

Fedde, meanwhile, will try to provide some veteran stability to a young White Sox pitching staff. He thrived there in the first half of 2024, pitching to a 3.11 ERA over 121 1/3 innings. The Cardinals acquired him at that year's trade deadline in the three-team deal that sent Tommy Edman to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While the right-hander did succeed in the second half after that trade — he managed a 3.72 ERA over 10 starts as the Cardinals settled for a second-place finish in the NL Central — his stuff deteriorated so badly last season that it's hard to know if he can rehabilitate his value on the South Side of Chicago once again. Walks and home runs tend to become more problematic as pitchers age, and Fedde will turn 33 later this month.

With Fedde now signed, Miles Mikolas remains the last member of the Cardinals' 2025 Opening Day rotation without a home for the 2026 season.