Cardinals Could Trade $15 Million Starter To Desperate Division Rival

The St. Louis Cardinals are entering some sort of rebuild this season, so there are players on the roster who are at risk of being traded. The one player who stands out above the rest as the most likely to be dealt away is starting pitcher Erick Fedde.

Fedde, 32, is in the final year of his two-year, $15 million contract. The righty was very consistent with both the Cardinals and the Chicago White Sox in 2024. Now in 2025, he's turned in 15 solid innings for the Cardinals. For teams looking to add a consistent pitcher for an affordable price, Fedde is the perfect guy to trade for.

And there might not be any team in the league more desperate to add a starting pitcher than the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs have a lot of talent on their roster, but their pitching staff just suffered a brutal injury. Justin Steele is reportedly set to undergo season-ending elbow surgery, and the Cubs will be left scrambling for options.

While interdivision trades can be rare, this is the kind of scenario that one would make sense.

Chicago's window to win is right now. It only has Kyle Tucker under contract for one year, so that year cannot be wasted.

The Cardinals wouldn't be losing anything important by trading Fedde. In fact, trading Fedde would clear a spot in the rotation for a young prospect like Quinn Mathews to come to the big leagues. Plus, the Cardinals would likely be able to get the desperate Cubs to overpay a bit for Fedde in this situation.

It would be a low-risk, high-reward move for the Cardinals to make this year.