The Cardinals' excuses for the terrible Tommy Edman trade are becoming increasingly ridiculous

The blockbuster three-team trade that saw switch-hitter Tommy Edman move from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Los Angeles Dodgers may go down as one of Andrew Freedman's best moves. The same cannot be said for John Mozeliak, the Cardinals' president of baseball operations, who completed the deal to acquire right-handed starter Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham from the White Sox. No matter how hard the Cardinals might try to turn this move around, it simply hasn't aged well.

Before the postseason, no one expected Edman to be a major factor for the Dodgers, but he is now a big reason the team is just two wins away from its eighth World Series title. He was named NLCS MVP after a truly fantastic series against the Mets in which he batted .407 and had a whopping .630 slugging percentage.

On the other hand, the Cardinals are ready to begin rebuilding this offseason after missing the playoffs entirely.

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Many in the Cardinals organization are trying to find excuses for the trade. The most common one is that Edman probably wouldn't have repeated the success he had in Los Angeles if he had stayed in St. Louis. That's probably true, but it completely misses the point: it was all about the postseason.

Circumstances have changed dramatically for the Cardinals since the Edman deal was completed. They were in the playoff race at the trade deadline and made the move in hopes that it would strengthen their roster enough to get into the Wild Card. There was a very good argument at the time that the trade was a “win-win” deal, but the acquisition of Fedde and Pham wasn’t enough.

Both players performed worse for the Cardinals. Fedde's ERA rose from 3.11 in 21 starts with the White Sox to 3.72 in 10 starts with the Cardinals. Receiving DFA status when it became clear the team would miss the playoffs, Pham found success in October after being acquired by the Kansas City Royals, batting .333 before the Royals were eliminated by the Yankees in the Division Series became.

All they got from the deal was a starter who retired immediately upon arrival and a veteran maverick who they gave away. Now let's look at what they gave up.

Edman was still recovering from offseason wrist surgery at the time of the trade. He didn't make his season debut for the Dodgers until mid-August. At this point, the Cardinals were no longer in the playoffs. For the Cardinals, this meant that waiving Edman was a bit of a short-term disaster.

A look at next season paints a different picture. The Cardinals were without a key utility player and 2021 Gold Glove Award winner who showed strong offensive potential in his rookie season in 2019 before batting around league average in the following three seasons.

While Edman's return wouldn't have meant much for the Cardinals this season, his recent performances with the Dodgers prove that he still has the potential to be an offensive weapon and that he has another year left on his contract.

One argument for the trade is that Edman would definitely leave the Cardinals after the 2025 season. While this may be true, this way the Cardinals could have had a better impact on the trade market next season.

Trading for a healthy Edman next year could have provided a greater return, especially if he played like he is now. While the move may have made sense for the Cardinals when they made it, the trade fell through once they were eliminated from postseason contention. There are no excuses for this.

The move could prove to be a consequence for the Cardinals' upcoming rebuilding efforts. Hindsight is 20/20, but in the long run it would be better to trade Edman for future assets this offseason or next season.

Now the Cardinals must plan their rebuild without Edman while watching their former player shine in the World Series.