Why the Yankees coveted Tommy Edman and how they lost out

The Cardinals were determined to turn Tommy Edman into the best starting pitcher they could acquire. The Yankees wanted him, but St. Louis was able to engage the White Sox and Dodgers in a three-way trade that, instead, sent Edman to Los Angeles and Erick Fedde to the Cardinals.

The Yankees had been aware for several days that the Cardinals favored a three-team proposal that would net Erick Fedde and that, if they pivoted to them, it would cost Nestor Cortes and mean the Yanks had to definitively find a starter elsewhere to replace Cortes.

In the three-team deal, Fedde and Tommy Pham went from the White Sox to the Cardinals, three youngsters went to the White Sox from the Dodgers, who obtained Edman, plus reliever Michael Kopech from the White Sox.

The Yankee involvement had whiffs of 2022, when they traded Jordan Montgomery to the Cardinals for Harrison Bader.

In 2022, the lefty Montgomery was 29, a year-and-a-half from free agency, and the Yankees had real questions whether he would be part of a postseason rotation. In 2024, the lefty Cortes is 29, a year-and-a-half from free agency, and the Yankees have real questions whether he would be part of a postseason rotation.

In 2022, Bader was 29, a year removed from his lone Gold Glove, was on the injured list at the time of the deal and the homegrown Cardinal also was a year-and-a-half from free agency. In 2024, Edman is 29, a year removed from his lone Glove Glove, currently on the IL and the homegrown Cardinal is a year-and-a-half from free agency.

The Yankees concurrently, in 2022, traded with Oakland for Frankie Montas, believing he was going to be a better postseason option than Montgomery. But he was bad and injured as a Yankee. Montas was traded once again at the deadline, Monday night from the Reds to the Brewers.

The big swing — if the Yanks decided to go for a starter — would be for San Francisco’s Blake Snell or the White Sox’s Garrett Crochet, but others such as Tampa Bay’s Zach Littell, Colorado’s Cal Quantrill and Detroit’s Jack Flaherty also are in play. The Yanks have engaged in multiple scenarios, including three-way talks, that would net them Flaherty and in many options send Cortes elsewhere, but as of early Monday night — 24 hours until the deadline — nothing had yet proven fruitful.

Edman has yet to play in the majors this season after offseason wrist surgery and then spraining an ankle. He has been rehabbing at Double-A, so far exclusively as a designated hitter. But Edman is a switch hitter who has started at least 30 MLB games at second, short, third, right and center and probably would have been prominent for the Yankees at third base when he was activated.

Clearly, the Yankees, who previously added Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s speed, were hoping to get more dynamic overall, since Edman is a strong defender who had 87 steals between 2021-23 — the second-most in the majors in that time.

The Yankees remain active on multiple fronts. The Cardinals, meanwhile, satisfied their two key needs; namely a starter they believe can help get them to the postseason and then pitch in it behind Sonny Gray. Fedde, after an MVP season in Korea in 2023, signed a two-year, $15 million pact with the White Sox and has excelled (3.11 ERA in 21 starts).

Pham provides the righty bat (.848 OPS vs. lefties this year) St. Louis craved. The outfielder has been traded five times in his career, four times at the deadline, including each of the past three now. The righty-hitter is full circle back with the Cardinals, who drafted him in the 16th round in 2006, the same year they took Adam Ottavino in the first.

The Dodgers wanted Edman in the offseason as a hedge at shortstop if Gavin Lux did not make it back from knee surgery. Ultimately, Lux was moved to second with Mookie Betts stepping in at short. Betts has been out since mid-June with a fractured hand and is due back in a few weeks and Los Angeles wanted to add positional depth, knowing Betts could move between the infield and outfield — just like Edman.

The White Sox were on a MLB-record 122-loss pace with Fedde. Their return was infielders Miguel Vargas, Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez.