The Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Chicago White Sox made a big trade on Monday.
Seven players swapped teams in this first three-team trade of the deadline season. Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech are heading to the Dodgers; Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham to the Cardinals; Miguel Vargas and two prospects to the White Sox.
CBS Sports is covering all these trades with instant analysis and grades for each team involved.
Dodgers Grade: A
The Dodgers’ infield has been a mess lately with injuries to key players like Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, and Miguel Rojas. They had to rely on backups like Cavan Biggio and Nick Ahmed. Adding Edman should help fix this issue.
Edman is 29 years old and missed most of the season due to wrist surgery but is now close to returning . He’s not known for his hitting but excels in defense at multiple positions including center field and shortstop. He’s also a fast runner with an average of 29 stolen bases per 162 games.
Fans might think this move makes the Dodgers even stronger for their playoff push.
Kopech, 28, has great stuff but struggles with control. The Dodgers are good at fixing pitchers like him, so he could become a key reliever soon.
Cardinals Grade: A
The Cardinals spent big last winter on pitchers Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, and Lance Lynn. Now they’ve added Fedde who has been surprisingly good this season after returning from South Korea with a 3.11 ERA over 21 starts.
Fedde fits well with the Cardinals’ pitching style and uses a mix of pitches effectively . His best pitch is a sweeping slider that opponents struggle against. Pham was expected to be traded since signing with the White Sox in April; he hits well against lefties which will help the Cardinals’ lineup flexibility.
Fedde’s contract through next year at $7.5 million makes him an affordable addition too!
White Sox Grade: D
Chris Getz did well signing Fedde but trading him away might not have been as smart . Vargas was once a top prospect but hasn’t lived up to expectations yet although he showed some promise recently with improved hitting stats over 30 games compared to his earlier career numbers.
Albertus (19) shows potential but lacks power while Perez (19) has more pop having hit 21 homers over his last 135 games dating back to last season .
Ultimately it depends on whether Vargas can improve further or if Albertus/Perez develop into solid players making this deal worthwhile for Chicago fans who may feel underwhelmed by this return package right now…
What do you think about these trades? Let us know!
