Grading the St. Louis Cardinals' 2024 trade deadline moves

The Cardinals filled all their "needs" at the trade deadline. But how well did they do?

Texas Rangers v St. Louis Cardinals
Texas Rangers v St. Louis Cardinals | Dilip Vishwanat/GettyImages
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The trade deadline is over and the St. Louis Cardinals have made two trades addressing three needs John Mozeliak promised to fill: a right-handed bat who can play center field, a starting pitcher, and a reliever. How did he do? Did the Cardinals make the correct trades to push for a playoff spot while not giving up too much of their future? Let's grade these two trades:

Three-team trade: Cardinals acquire Tommy Pham and Erick Fedde, Dodgers acquire Tommy Edman and Oliver Gonazlez

Tommy Pham sure knows how to make an impression, huh? In his first plate appearance back in Cardinal red, the veteran outfielder smashed an opposite-field grand slam to break open the game, giving St. Louis an 8-1 lead over Texas. He was brought in to fix the team's glaring weakness against left-handed pitching, and he sure delivered. However, if he keeps this production up, the fiery veteran could find himself in the lineup every day.

Erick Fedde also proves to be a great starting pitcher to pair with Sonny Gray at the head of the Cardinals' rotation. The Cardinals needed another frontline starter to contend in a postseason series, and Fedde may be just that. Since returning from the KBO as a transformed pitcher, Fedde has been fantastic recording an ERA of 3.11 and accruing the second-most wins above replacement in the American League among starting pitchers (behind Tarik Skubal).

While not the flashiest name, Fedde certainly gets the job done. Considering the names teams had to give up for starters like Yusei Kikuchi and Trevor Rogers, surely St. Louis gave up a haul to get a much bigger name in Erick Fedde, right? Not at all.

The Los Angeles Dodgers wanted Tommy Edman and gave the White Sox all the established prospects in this deal. Sure, LA got Michael Kopech in return from Chicago as well, but all the Cardinals had to give up was a DSL prospect and Tommy Edman. While Edman is extremely talented, there was no clear spot to put him upon his eventual return from the injured list. He's much more valuable to the Dodgers than he is to the Cardinals.

Grade: A+. Mo masterclass. I'll carry Mo's water up a mountain and back.

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