You had a feeling this was coming sooner rather than later. Earlier this week, the St. Louis Cardinals made the pretty easy call to DFA veteran right-handed hurler Erick Fedde. It's been a year to forget for the Cardinals and Fedde has been struggling quite a bit.
With St. Louis right around .500 and nowhere close to contending for a division title, it was long past time to have some younger guys get more playing time and some valuable experience with an eye toward 2026. That meant moving on from Fedde in the process.
But moving also introduced the risk of him catching on somewhere new. Now that he's officially a free agent, plenty of clubs should and will have interest in adding a veteran arm (one who pitched to a 3.30 ERA just last year) to the mix at minimal cost. Might that list include the Chicago Cubs? Unfortunately for the St. Louis faithful, this could end up being the case, as Fedde has a history in Chicago (he was with the White Sox last season) and the Cubbies need as much pitching depth as they can get. Could that lead to the two sides joining for the rest of the campaign?
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Erick Fedde potentially signing with the Cubs would be a disaster for the Cardinals
In 20 starts in 2025, Fedde put up the kind of stats that had people dreaming of the season ending: He went 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA before the Cardinals decided it was time to shut off the lights for his time in St. Louis.
Despite the rough go for him this spring and summer, let's not forget how impressive Fedde was on the bump in 2024. Last season for the White Sox and Cardinals, he went a combined 9-9, but with a much better 3.30 ERA.
The hope from the Cardinals was that Fedde would be able to showcase his best stuff this year, either to help St. Louis contend or at least build up his value to be traded at the deadline, but the opposite turned out to be the case. Yes, he has looked a bit brutal at times, but the Cubs indeed are in need of some pitching and Fedde's experience is something that doesn't grow on trees.
The Cubs are 60-42 on the year and in a neck-and-beck battle with the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL Central crown. It's a spot St. Louis was hoping to be in, but that's not how the cookie has crumbled for them. Things are only made worse with the Cubs looking so strong.
The Chicago rotation is led by lefties Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd. Colin Rea and others have also looked solid. Still, Chicago needs some depth and Fedde would provide them with a cheap enough option who could at least soak up some innings.
Recently, Jed Hoyer made it pretty clear that this team was searching for pitching help. Who knew that said help would potentially come thanks to a division rival? Obviously, nothing is set in stone here and other clubs could beat the Cubs to the punch for Fedde, but a potential signing is something to keep a close eye on.