Erick Fedde’s smooth transition back to the major leagues led to trade speculation, and on Monday the Chicago White Sox dealt the 31-year-old right-hander to the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team deal one day before the deadline.
The Sox also sent outfielder Tommy Pham to the Cardinals — his former team — and traded right-hander Michael Kopech to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who also will receive infielder Tommy Edman from the Cardinals.
The Sox will receive three infield prospects from the Dodgers: Miguel Vargas, 24, Jeral Perez, 19, and Alexander Albertus, 19.
Fedde earned MVP honors in the Korea Baseball Organization in 2023 before returning to the majors this season on a two-year deal with the Sox. He is 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA — 11th in the American League — and 108 strikeouts in 21 starts.
“It’s been great,” Fedde said Saturday about his time with the Sox. “It’s been a pleasure to work with (pitching coach Ethan) Katz and (senior adviser to pitching Brian Bannister). They’ve put a ton of time into me, making me the best pitcher I can be.
“Obviously it’s been tough. We haven’t won a ton of games. But this has been a great clubhouse. My starting staff has been amazing, just the guys I get to grow with, and I’ve enjoyed my time for sure.”
Fedde pitched for the Washington Nationals from 2017-22 and then joined the NC Dinos of the KBO, where he went 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA.
Kopech, 28, came to the Sox organization in the 2016 trade that sent Chris Sale to the Boston Red Sox. He moved from the rotation to the bullpen in spring training this year and is 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA and nine saves in 43 appearances. He was a starter almost all of last season, going 5-12 with a 5.43 ERA in 30 outings (27 starts).
Kopech made his highly anticipated major-league debut in 2018 but had to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery after four starts. He was out all of 2019 and opted out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season for personal reasons.
Kopech spent 2021 as a reliever and moved back to the rotation in 2022 before returning to the bullpen this spring. He has had ups and downs as the Sox closer but has the blazing fastball to be a late-inning factor down the stretch for the Dodgers.
Pham, 36, hit .266 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 70 games for the Sox. He signed a minor-league deal with the team on April 16 and joined the big-league club on April 26.
He had a big World Series last year for the Arizona Diamondbacks, hitting .421 in a five-game loss to the Texas Rangers.
Pham spent his first 4½ seasons in St. Louis and has played for eight teams over 11 seasons.