This offer the White Sox turned down for Erick Fedde reinforces Cardinals' robbery

If you've taken in any St. Louis Cardinals' content since the trade deadline, you'll be well familiar with the overwhelmingly positive reactions about the deal they were able to pull off for former White Sox's Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham.

It's one thing for the perceived value to seem like a steal, but it is a whole other thing to see the kinds of offers that the White Sox turned down for Fedde that led to him becoming a Cardinal.

According to The Athletic's Dan Hayes, who covers the Minnesota Twins, the White Sox had an insane asking price when the Twins approached them regarding Fedde. That makes sense, as if you are the White Sox, you'd love to get him out of the division if at all possible. But while their first ask was far too high for any club to pay, the Twins did indeed make an offer to the White Sox that shows just how valuable he was on this market.

If you are unfamiliar with Luke Keaschall, he's a top 60 prospect in the game according to Baseball America and would have been the only top 100 prospect moved at this deadline, according to their rankings. The fact that Minnesota was willing to part with a prospect of that caliber for Fedde shows you just how expensive pitching was this year, and how valuable Fedde was seen by other clubs.

For as much as I love what Tommy Edman brought to the Cardinals, I do not see a world where they could have received a top 100 prospect for his services at this deadline. So the fact that they were able to turn him and a pitching prospect that was on nobody's radar into Fedde and Tommy Pham shows you why people around the industry were so in favor of what the Cardinals were able to do here.

Now, the Cardinals did get lucky that the White Sox were so against trading Fedde within the division that they accepted the three-team deal instead of going with the best offer on the table, but credit to John Mozeliak and their front office for pulling it off. The Cardinals front office tends to avoid "complicated" moves, but whenever they dip their toe in and get creative, it tends to work out well for them.

Fedde's debut with St. Louis was obviously a dud, but as hard as it is to shake first impressions, give him a few starts before you begin to draw some conclusions regarding the kind of pitcher he is. While his career numbers seem to indicate his success with Chicago was merely a fluke, fans must remember how Fedde has changed his game since the last time he was in the Major Leagues.

Unfortunately, there wasn't really a better starter to be had anyway. The Rangers did not end up selling, the Blue Jays did not move their controllable arms, and neither of the big prizes, Tarik Skubal Garrett Crochet, were moved as well. And frankly, if any of those names were, it likely would have cost the Cardinals an arm and a leg compared to what they gave up for Fedde.

Give credit where it is due Cardinals fans, the front office pulled off a heist here in terms of value. Now, what matters the most is how Fedde will perform now that he's in St. Louis, and the jury will be out on that for the foreseeable future.