Revisiting the Cardinals 2022 trade deadline deals

In 2022, the St. Louis Cardinals were in a position to buy at the annual summer trade deadline. As is the case with this year, the team needed some relief help and some reliable starting pitching. Big names like Luis Castillo and Frankie Montas were available, but John Mozeliak instead opted for the next tier of pitchers.

In two trades, Mozeliak brought left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery and right-handed veteran Jose Quintana on board from the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively. By the end of the season, these two would become the team's two best starters. Quintana was tabbed to start game one of the playoffs that year, and Monty would take his game to another level with St. Louis.

This year feels similar to 2022. The Cardinals aren't necessarily vying for the division crown like they were two years ago, but they are entrenched in a battle for the Wild Card with eight other teams right now. Make the right moves, and John Mozeliak can vault the Cardinals into a confident postseason position. Make the wrong moves, and the organization may set back a few years.

Big-name guys like Garrett Crochet and Tarik Skubal are options, but those feel out of reach for an organization that thrives in the middle. Instead, the Cardinals have been directly linked to two starting pitchers by multiple reliable sources: Nathan Eovaldi and Erick Fedde. Eovaldi has received the highest praise, followed by Fedde.

I wanted to analyze the stats of Monty and Quintana at the time of their acquisitions; neither was supposed to be the leader of a staff, but they both had a strong case to be deemed as such by the end of the year. Perhaps the same could happen with Erick Fedde, a guy who doesn't have as much hype around him as his counterparts this deadline.

A few things surprise me here. First, Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana took it to another level that was unexpected with the Cardinals. Monty's ERA+ for the rest of 2022 was 126 and Quintana's was 195. Second, Erick Fedde is being tragically underrated. He's cheap (~$3 million left this year and $7.5 for next year), he's been exceptional all year, and he has the best ERA+ among the five pitchers. Lastly, these pitchers are all wonderful comps for each other.

The Cardinals had to give up their center fielder in Harrison Bader for Montgomery -- a trade that ended up favoring the Cardinals. They also had to sacrifice a pitching prospect in Johan Oviedo and corner infielder Malcolm Nunez for Quintana and reliever Chris Stratton. Those deals could be mirrored this year.

The 2022 deadline moves made by John Mozeliak panned out quite well for the organization. Neither Jordan Montgomery nor Jose Quintana were "ace" pitchers at the time, but they provided surplus value for the Cardinals in exchange. The same could happen with either Nathan Eovaldi or Erick Fedde. They won't cost as much as the top tier of pitchers, and they could match the performances of those "ace"-level guys by the end of the season.