The Chicago White Sox were deemed foolish by many after last year's trade deadline deal involving the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Cardinals made out like bandits when they received pitcher Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham from the White Sox without having to give up a single prospect.
Instead, St. Louis leaned on the Los Angeles Dodgers to give the White Sox the young talent - Miguel Vargas, along with prospects Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus - they coveted. All it cost the Cardinals was veteran utilityman Tommy Edman while the White Sox sent reliever Michael Kopech to the Dodgers in the deal.
CBS Sports gave the Dodgers and Cardinals a grade of "A" after the trade was finalized. The White Sox received a "D."
Revisiting the Miguel Vargas trade
Time has proven the Dodgers deserved that praise. Edman was last year's World Series MVP, and Kopech got some big outs in the postseason to earn his World Series ring.
But as it turns out, the White Sox did not deserve a D. It took Miguel Vargas making a swing adjustment in April to salvage the deal for Chicago, but now that Vargas has 12 home runs with an OPS over .700, he looks like a Major League regular.
Vargas' contributions put the White Sox as the official runner-up of the trade. He's a young player with serious upside and loads of club control. Meanwhile, the players that went to St. Louis have already departed from the roster.
Pham was so bad in St. Louis that he was quickly designated for assignment and finished the 2024 season with the Kansas City Royals.
Fedde's numbers weren't quite as good when he pitched for St. Louis last season. He had a 3.11 ERA with a 1.14 WHIP with the White Sox before the trade and his ERA with St. Louis was 3.72.
Fedde's numbers got even worse this season with a 5.22 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. The Cardinals designated him for assignment last week, and Erick Fedde was traded to Atlanta yesterday for "a player to be named or cash considerations."
The #Braves today acquired RHP Erick Fedde and cash considerations from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta transferred RHP Grant Holmes to the 60-day injured list.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 27, 2025
Two lessons from this trade and the 2024 trade deadline can be applied to any deal the White Sox make before this year's July 31st deadline.
1. Immediate trade grades are useless
I will admit I hated the Miguel Vargas trade at the time. I am still not a fan of the process. I would have preferred the White Sox not bundle all three of their best trade assets for Vargas and a prospect with a broken leg like Albertus had.
I view Vargas' emergence as more of a player development win than a front office win for spitting great talent. Vargas was terrible during the second half last year. It took readjusting his hands to make him a viable player. Had the Sox coaching staff not made that correction, Chris Getz and the front office would still look foolish.
With how kind last year's trade deadline was to the reliever market, the Sox probably could have gotten a big return for for Michael Kopech alone. Kopech's numbers were not great, but he was pitching much better before the deadline.
As much as I may hate the process, this deal does prove that immediately grading trades is just content filler. It can be fun, but things have to be given time to play out to get an accurate grade.
The Dodgers got a World Series out of this trade. The White Sox got Vargas and a promising power-hitting prospect in Jeral Perez. The Cardinals got poor performances from two veterans and no playoff appearances.
2. Teams can go from "trade loser" to "trade winner" over time
Vargas hitting .104 with a .387 OPS in 42 games last year made the White Sox look like the clear losers in the trade. It did not help that Kopech became the best version of himself in Los Angeles.
This year it has been a completely different story. Kopech has pitched in just eight games due to injuries, and he is currently on the 60-day IL with a knee injury. Meanwhile, Vargas has become a solid player for the White Sox.
The Cardinals have no players from this trade currently in the organization. It goes to show that over time, the pendulum can (and will) swing.
That's an important thing to remember at the 2025 trade deadline. When Chris Getz and the White Sox strike their deals, everyone will rush to share opinions on if the Sox "won or lost" the trade.
In reality, it can take a few years for the dust to settle and the real trade results to be clear.