Tigers should target alternative trade candidate as Cardinals rumors intensify

While there's technically still time for teams sign free agents or make trades, the offseason is over, and the only team that didn't spent a single cent or make a notable trade was the St. Louis Cardinals. They subtracted six players, including first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and starting pitchers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson (after declining both of their club options), and have been preoccupied with trying to trade Nolan Arenado. The Detroit Tigers were involved there briefly, too.

The Cardinals had a winning season last year, but missed the playoffs again so they've embarked on a rebuild. The first few years of those are never pretty, but St. Louis' situation has been particularly ugly because of their inability to move Arenado, which eliminated the possibility of doing anything with some of the money they might've freed up.

Even though the Tigers inquired about Arenado to upgrade their third base situation, Katie Woo of The Athletic wrote that Detroit was a "non-starter" for the player, who has a no-trade clause and already exercised it to block a deal with the Astros.

However, maybe the Tigers were looking in the wrong place. The Cardinals are also reportedly "open" to moving starter Erick Fedde, who could be a nice addition to the rotation now that Alex Cobb is out for some time.

Tigers could target Cardinals trade candidate Erick Fedde to make up for loss of Alex Cobb

Cobb reported hip inflammation before he even got to spring training. He's scheduled to play catch this week, per the Tigers' latest injury report, but he won't be ready by Opening Day, and his history of hip issues won't reassure anyone that he'll be back promptly.

The Cardinals loaded their rotation with workhorses last season, including Gibson and Lynn (who has also been identified as a good match for the Tigers, if they're looking for a Cobb replacement) and Fedde could be even better than just a guy who can eat innings. Apart from Garrett Crochet, he was easily the best part of the White Sox's pitching staff last season before he was dealt to the Cardinals, and he finished the year with a 3.30 ERA across 177 1/3 innings in Chicago and St. Louis.

The Tigers do have ample internal options to replace Cobb in the rotation — Jackson Jobe, Keider Montero, Casey Mize, and Kenta Maeda are already fighting for the two open spots — but Fedde could provide some extra reassurance. He's only owed $7.5 million this season and is a free agent when the year's up, so he could be a plausible addition to make the Tigers' pitching staff even more ironclad in what's expected to be an exciting 2025 season.