6 Cardinals trade ideas after acquiring Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham

The St. Louis Cardinals likely made their biggest move of the deadline on Monday, acquiring Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham from the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade that sent Tommy Edman to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Cardinals still have work to do if they want to inspire this fanbase though, and they know that. Their shopping list has been clear for awhile - one starting starter, bullpen arm, and right-handed bat who could play some center field. They've crossed of the starter and bat already, now it is time to go out and get that last piece to their puzzle.

With the deadline hours away now, I put together six trade ideas that the Cardinals could pursue in these final offers. I tried to base these deals based off things that have been reported already and what we expect the Cardinals to be looking for.

Here are six trades the Cardinals can make to complete their trade deadline moves

Bring home the Mizzou man

Just look at the cost of acquiring relievers in the trade market right now. It is truly insane. It's why there are Cardinals fans who have been advocating that the Cardinals still try to trade Ryan Helsley even though the club is buying and contending.

The Cardinals are not trading Helsley, and they would like to add a reliever to their bullpen to help him and the rest of their high-leverage arms lock down games down the stretch and in October. If I was able to pick one reliever to fit that role perfectly for St. Louis who is available in trades, it would be Pete Fairbanks from the Tampa Bay Rays.

Fairbanks pitched for the University of Missouri and even grew up a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan. When asked by Chris Russo about his fandom growing up, Fairbanks glowed about how much he followed the Cardinals, and how pitchers like Jason Isringhausen, Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Jason Motte were idols of his growing up.

Fairbanks is an excellent reliever with a fastball that sits in the upper-90s and touches 100 MPH that pairs with a wipeout slider. Fairbanks has a 3.11 ERA and 3.25 FIP on the year to go with his 22.7 K%, but most seasons his K% has actually stat between 33.3%-43.7%. Fairbanks is deadly at the back end of games and would make the Cardinals' bullpen nasty for the rest of this season.

Another perk in acquiring Fairbanks is that you have him for two more seasons at a very affordable number as well. Fairbanks is set to make $3.7 million next year and has a $7 million club option for the following season, and both numbers would be absolute steals with how good he is. There is the question of whether or not the Cardinals' ownership would be willing to add that money, but if they seriously balk at that, every Cardinal fan should be furious.

Losing Ivan Herrera would be extremely difficult, but if you look at the packages it has taken to acquire relievers thus far, you'll understand how this isn't a crazy price in comparison to the deals being made.

I kind of think the Cardinals would want to lean in this direction, rather than giving up a package of prospects. That was their preference in the Fedde negotiations, and I'd imagine they maintain that in other conversations, if possible, as well.

Last tidbit - it is worth noting that Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said there is a chance they could acquire Fairbanks, and that it has not been ruled out by anyone he has spoken to.