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The Cardinals discovered early in their conversations with the Chicago White Sox that trading for one of the players they wanted, let alone two, would take drawing a third team into the talks.

They knew just the club and who it wanted.

Back as buyers after last year’s closeout sales, the Cardinals acquired right-hander Erick Fedde, a starter they coveted, and outfielder Tommy Pham from the Sox in a three-team deal Monday. To pull it off, they utilized the Los Angeles Dodgers’ interest in Tommy Edman and willingness to move prospects the Cardinals were not. The Cardinals became confident they could acquire Fedde over the weekend and were able to expand the deal to include Pham before it crystallized Monday morning into an intricate swap that could ultimately include 10 players.

“We went into our deadline approach where if we could find someone who could help our rotation, someone who could get a start in October should we make it (to the playoffs), was something we were very interested in, and also someone who would be around for next year,” said John Mozeliak, the club’s president of baseball operations. “Erick Fedde met that. The complication was how to get him. ... From the prospect standpoint, yeah, we weren’t lining up and weren’t seeing a direct fit with us and the Dodgers.”

The White Sox forged the link.

The Dodgers provided the prospects.

The Cardinals got their targets.

They turned Edman, who has yet to play a game this season in the majors because of wrist surgery, and rookie-level pitcher Oliver Gonzalez into Fedde, Pham, cash to offset salaries and the potential for a player to be named from the Dodgers.

“I think the way the club showed it’s capable of playing is what we’re excited about,” Mozeliak said. “And as we push toward October, we wanted to add some pieces that we think will make us stronger.”

Pham, a former Cardinal and no-nonsense right-handed hitter, planned to drive to St. Louis on Monday night and join the active roster Tuesday. Fedde, who is signed through 2025, will make his Cardinals debut later this week at Wrigley Field, and he’ll join the Cardinals active roster Thursday.

The Cardinals will have to make room on the 26-player roster for both players, prompting at least one trade that they’re still trying to make ahead of Tuesday’s 5 p.m. (St. Louis time) deadline. The Cardinals continue to talk with teams interested in outfielder Dylan Carlson in order to trade the young switch-hitter ahead of adding Pham to the roster, according to sources. The Cardinals cleared a spot Sunday by designating Giovanny Gallegos for assignment, and they will either trade him by Tuesday or likely release him in the coming days.

The Cardinals intend to use the final 24 hours before the deadline to explore potential trades to augment the bullpen for the final two months of the season and deepen it for a potential playoff berth.

“When you look at what the target was going into the trade deadline — someone who could join that starting rotation was a big one,” manager Oliver Marmol said. “And then a right-handed bat was another. I think Mo and his group have done a really nice job of addressing those, not only from a skill set standpoint but from a mentality and overall competitive standpoint.”

Pham and Fedde were players the Cardinals explored signing last winter.

Fedde focus

Fedde, 31, rejuvenated his career after several inconsistent seasons with Washington by going to play in Korea last season and pulling off a rare feat. He won the KBO’s best pitcher and MVP awards by leading Korea’s top league in the Triple Crown categories with 20 wins, a 2.00 ERA and 209 strikeouts. He became the fourth pitcher ever and first foreign-born player to sweep the pitcher’s Triple Crown. That drew interest from at least a dozen big league teams, including the Cardinals, and he signed a two-year, $15 million deal with the White Sox.

The sweeping slider and adjustment to his pitch mix that worked so well in the KBO was also effective on the South Side.

With a 7-4 record in 21 starts for the Sox, Fedde ranked among the American League leaders in ERA (3.11) and ground-ball rate (44.4%). Only Sonny Gray at 2.9 has a higher wins above replacement in the Cardinals rotation than Fedde’s 2.7, as calculated by FanGraphs. He’s gotten there by using a harder, faster slider than he did with the Nationals, ditching his curveball and getting more effective with his sinker.

“His mix plays,” Marmol said. “Going down the stretch here, adding someone like him who has been steady is important.”

Fedde is signed for a cost-efficient $7.5 million for 2025, and at that season’s end, he’ll be eligible for a qualifying offer for the Cardinals to keep him or get a compensatory draft pick.

Pham focus

Pham, 36, originally was a Cardinal and played for them from 2014 to 2018 before they traded him to clear playing time for Harrison Bader. That outfielders-up, outfielders-out carousel continued to spin after he left, leading to the team bringing him back as the right-handed bat the Cardinals believe they lack against left-handed pitching.

Pham hit .266 this season with a .710 OPS in 70 games for the Sox. Against lefties, he’s slugged .471 this season with an .848 OPS. A year ago, he finished the season hitting .429 for Arizona in the World Series after being acquired at the trade deadline and giving the Diamondbacks a .720 OPS in 50 games.

“I think he’ll be a jolt of energy for this club,” Mozeliak said.

Pham’s intensity has not waned since his years with the Cardinals, and neither has his bluntness. As one D-Back teammate said in October, he’s not the guy to “dance around the truth.”

“We’re very familiar with Pham, and we didn’t just get a right-handed bat,” Marmol said. “We got a guy who lives and dies for winning baseball games. That is who he is, and him walking through those doors is going to be very meaningful.”

Edman focus

In five seasons with the Cardinals, Edman won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award as a second baseman and took a run at two others, including one in center field. Edman hit .265 with a .319 on-base percentage in 596 games for the Cardinals, but he had yet to appear this season because of offseason wrist surgery and a recent ankle injury. While recovering from surgery this winter, he signed a two-year, $16.5 million extension with the Cardinals through 2025.

During his rehab assignment at Class AA Springfield (Missouri), he drew interest from at least two teams. The Yankees had a scout present in Springfield over the weekend to evaluate Edman’s health. The Cardinals approached the Yankees about lefty and former All-Star Nestor Cortes, according to source, but it’s not clear how interested the Yankees were in dealing a starter or how they viewed Edman’s readiness to return.

Edman, 29, came to Busch Stadium on Monday to empty his locker, and he said he was ready to play second base for the first time Tuesday as he continued his rehab assignment with Class AAA Memphis in Durham, North Carolina. Instead, he’ll report to LA and work out his timetable for a big-league return with the Dodgers. They visit Busch on Aug. 16.

Mozeliak said the Dodgers asked the Sox if they could help facilitate a deal for Edman.

The Dodgers sent prospects Miguel Vargas, 2B/OF; Alexander Albertus, 3B; Jeral Perez, 2B; and a player to be named later to the White Sox. In addition to Edman and 17-year-old Gonzalez, the Dodgers got right-hander Michael Kopech for their big league staff. The Cardinals got cash from the White Sox and will either get cash or a player to be named from the Dodgers, pending Edman’s healthy return.

Given the high price initially being asked for Fedde and a seller-friendly market, the Cardinals landed two of their needs by moving one big league player in a cash-neutral deal.

So they’re still shopping.

“We’ll keep trying things and trawling and searching and maybe doing a little bit of hoping, too,” Mozeliak said. “We’ll still be actively calling and kicking things around.”