White Sox To Sign Erick Fedde

Fedde returns to the organization with which he made his MLB comeback in 2024. The former first-round pick and top prospect struggled through parts of six seasons with the Nationals before signing with the Korea Baseball Organization’s NC Dinos and reinventing himself. He won the KBO’s Cy Young Award equivalent (the Choi Dong-won Award) and was named KBO MVP in 2023. Fedde parlayed that into two years and $15MM with the White Sox, who plugged him right into the rotation.

The early portion of Fedde’s 2024 season could scarcely have gone better. He was Chicago’s best starter and looked every bit like a quality big league arm. In 121 2/3 frames with the South Siders, he turned in a 3.11 earned run average, a 21.5% strikeout rate, a 6.8% walk rate and a 44.7% ground-ball rate. The contract looked like a clear bargain, and the rebuilding White Sox naturally drew plenty of interest in the right-hander ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. Fedde ultimately went to the Cardinals as part of a three-team deal that netted the White Sox current third baseman Miguel Vargas and a pair of prospects while sending utilityman Tommy Edman from St. Louis to the Dodgers.

Fedde pitched decently with the Cardinals down the stretch in ’24. His rate stats slipped a bit, and he gave up a fair bit more hard contact, but his overall 3.72 ERA (4.05 FIP, 4.22 SIERA) in 55 2/3 frames was plenty respectable.

The 2025 season was a nightmare, however. Fedde’s strikeout rate cratered to 14% as his walk rate jumped north of 10%. He was tagged for a 5.22 ERA in 101 2/3 innings (20 starts) before being cut loose by the Cardinals. Subsequent deals with the Braves and Brewers didn’t bring about much more success. By the time the season was over, Fedde had a 5.49 ERA in 141 frames. He hadn’t lost any velocity off his heater, but Fedde’s command was clearly nowhere near as sharp as it was in 2024 — particularly in his early run with the White Sox.

Now back with Chicago, Fedde seems like he’ll have a chance to step into the rotation once again. The fifth spot behind Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Davis Martin and Anthony Kay seems up for grabs, with Fedde and fellow free agent pickup Sean Newcomb standing as the presumptive front-runners after signing major league deals this winter. Whichever of the two doesn’t grab the spot could open a swingman role, although there’s enough inexperience in the rotation — to say nothing for the inherent potential for injury faced by all teams — that it’s possible both Fedde and Newcomb will be starting games early in the season.