Peaking Cardinals veteran makes St. Louis' deadline plan crystal clear

Erick Fedde took the ball on Friday for the St. Louis Cardinals against a Washington Nationals team he spent the first six seasons of his MLB career with, and it's safe to say, he didn't disappoint. The right-hander threw the first complete game shutout of his career in a 10-0 win for St. Louis. He struck out eight without issuing a single walk and surrendered only six hits. He was dominant. His strong showing only makes St. Louis' trade deadline plans that much easier to predict.

With that win, the Cardinals are now 20-19 and sitting in second place in the NL Central. While they've had some good moments to start the year, they're closer to fourth place in their division than they are to first. Nobody realistically expects this team to make the postseason, especially in a loaded National League.

Given that, the Cardinals have been widely expected to sellers once July's trade deadline arrives, and this performance shows that Fedde could be the first to go.

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Cardinals have no reason not to trade Erick Fedde by the trade deadline

Fedde has a 3.86 ERA through his eight starts and 46.2 innings of work thus far, and even that isn't quite indicative of how well he's pitched at times. The right-hander has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his eight outings and has thrown at least six innings in every one of those appearances. He's had a couple of clunkers, but for the most part, he's been quite good for St. Louis.

While it might be weird to see the Cardinals look to get rid of a quality pitcher, there are a couple of reasons why this will likely be their direction. First, as mentioned above, the chances of this team making the postseason feel quite slim. Second, Fedde is in the final year of his contract. While the Cardinals can look to extend him, he's 32 years old. He isn't a pitcher they should be looking to build long-term around.

Trading him will allow the Cardinals to receive young talent to aid their retool while also creating an opening for a younger arm, whether that be Michael McGreevy or even Quinn Mathews if he can come back healthy. That sounds like the best of both worlds for a franchise that appears to be more focused on the future.

Fedde's odds of remaining in St. Louis after the year or even past the deadline are slim, regardless of how he pitches. Given that, the better he performs, the better kind of return he can demand at the deadline. Friday's performance only increased his trade value.