The Atlanta Braves desperately need to add a starting pitcher. Alex Anthopoulos and the rest of the Braves’ front office hasn’t been very active to begin the offseason, which is a bit uncharacteristic.
Last season, Atlanta had four good starting pitchers, Chris Sale, Max Fried, Reynaldo Lopez and Charlie Morton. After that, prospect Spencer Schwellenbach stepped up in a big way while other prospects struggled. This winter, Atlanta has lost Fried and looks to lose Morton to free agency as well.
This is exactly where a blockbuster trade could come into play and the St. Louis Cardinals are the perfect trade match.
This Braves-Cardinals trade sends Erick Fedde to be Atlanta’s fifth starter
Enter starting pitcher Erick Fedde, who came to St. Louis at last season’s trade deadline by way of the White Sox but didn’t elevate the Cards enough to get them into the postseason.
The Cardinals are looking to sell, get younger, and enter a small rebuild. Fedde is a free agent at the end of the 2025 season and there’s almost no way St. Louis keeps him through the year. They could deal him to Atlanta this offseason and extract the most value out of the veteran righty.
It’s important to note the Braves would take on the rest of Fedde’s contract, which is worth $7.5 million in 2025. It’s not a lot, but it’s something to note there’s no cash being move in this proposed deal.
In return, the Cardinals would land two young pitchers.
Bryce Elder has All-Star potential, as he showed in his rookie year, but his floor is devastatingly low right now. Elder struggled to the tune of a 6.52 ERA in 2024 and he showed no indications of improving as the year went by. Still, he’s 25 years old and could be a solid reclamation project for St. Louis to take on.
Hackenburg, 22, has been dominant in his time in professional baseball. Across 135.1 innings, the righty holds a 2.99 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a measly .206 batting average allowed. When he’s struggled, it’s been the walks that hurt him.
For the Braves, Fedde gives them a reliable fifth starter to place behind their top four guys. Atlanta struggled with depth last season and they haven’t done anything to improve it. You simply cannot go into a season with only four reliable starting pitchers and a handful of question marks.
While Fedde may just be a stopgap until a prospect like AJ Smith-Shawver or Hurston Waldrep is ready, the righty would be good in Atlanta’s rotation early in the year at the very least.
