The Cardinals are positioning themselves for maximum leverage in this potential trade

Erick Fedde knows the value he brings on the mound after reinventing himself. And he's also very aware of the fact that his salary for 2025 does not reflect the performance the St. Louis Cardinals expect out of him.

“I’m very proud to say that people view my contract as cheap,” was the exact statement that Fedde told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this past weekend. Turns out Fedde has been keeping up with the narratives this offseason!

I'm certainly not the only one who has been saying this, but Fedde has been a clear trade candidate for the Cardinals and someone who I expect to bring them back good value. After back stateside from the KBO last year, Fedde put up a 3.30 ERA in 177.1 innings (31 starts) for the White Sox and Cardinals. Fedde was one of the more valuable starters in all of baseball last year and did so while making just $7.5 million.

If you look at how the free agent market played out this offseason, it is pretty clear that Fedde would have fetched a much higher AAV had teams been able to bid on him again, and he would have also received more years as well.

So to recap - Fedde pitched like one of the better starters in baseball last year and makes very little money relative to the performance he brings. What is that a recipe for? Trade value.

It's why I've been flabbergasted by the Cardinals not aggressively shopping Fedde this offseason. But hey, it sounds like they may finally be doing so.

The Cardinals will be open to discussing an Erick Fedde trade if they have confidence in their young arms

In that same story from Derrick Goold that Fedde's quotes came from, Goold stated that sources have told him the Cardinal will be open to discussing a Fedde trade, especially if their young arms show they are ready and the Cardinals can "afford" to sacrifice current stability for future gain.

True contending teams can never have enough pitching, and while some would likely want to acquire Fedde right now (the Tigers and Guardians have had reported interest before), it's also very possible that inevitable spring training injuries create even more of a market for Fedde.

Look, even outside of the value that the Cardinals should be able to get from a Fedde trade, I do not understand why they are not actively looking to create rotation spots for their young arms. Michael McGreevy is ready to shine and Quinn Mathews is clearly knocking on the door. But even if the Cardinals were right to wait and see what happens in camp, other young arms are already flashing promise.

Take Tekoah Roby for example. Out of all of the Cardinals' top pitching prospects, he is the name that has gotten lost in the shuffle the most during conversations about the future, especially for how high his ceiling could be. Since coming over from the Texas Rangers in the Jordan Montgomery trade, Roby has consistently dealt with injuries, but after coming into camp healthy this year, he's really stolen the show thus far.

In bullpens and live batting practices, Roby's stuff has shined. In his first spring training action of the year, he spun two scoreless innings with three strikeouts in dominant fashion Sunday.

Now, should the Cardinals be throwing Roby in their Opening Day rotation already? Not so fast. But this has been my point all winter - there are so many young arms who could end up taking a step forward that the Cardinals should be moving barriers out of their way so they can either sink or swim in St. Louis.

But hey, maybe things end up working out much better for the Cardinals than I have been giving them credit for as of late. There is a world here where holding onto Fedde gives them great leverage in a trade when a desperate contender comes knocking for pitching when no one else is willing to part with theirs. Sure, they could just sign a veteran from free agency who is still available, but there is a reason they are still available. Fedde brings upside to a rotation.

I have not been confident that the Cardinals would actually explore something like this, which is why I strongly believed this deal should have been done months ago. But, if they are truly willing to listen to offers and actually pull the trigger, they may end up making my offseason critiques of this situation look foolish.

Keep an eye on this situation as camp unfolds. If the young arms continue to impress, and injuries begin to pop up around other big league camps, we could see a trade come to fruition.