The Cardinals Send Rollie Fingers and Ted Simmons to Milwaukee

On December 12, 1980, the St. Louis Cardinals traded closer Rollie Fingers, catcher Ted Simmons, and pitcher Pete Vuckovich to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for pitcher Lary Sorensen, outfielder Sixto Lezcano, and minor leaguers David Green and Dave LaPoint. The deal reshaped both franchises and stands as one of the most consequential winter trades of the era.

Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog engineered the move as part of a broader roster overhaul. He wanted to build a team suited to the artificial turf and expansive dimensions of Busch Stadium, emphasizing speed, defense, and contact hitting. Simmons, a power-hitting catcher who had spent his entire career in St. Louis, did not fit that blueprint. Neither did Fingers, whom the Cardinals had just acquired from San Diego in an earlier trade.

Milwaukee benefited immediately. Fingers won both the Cy Young Award and the American League MVP in 1981, saving 28 games with a 1.04 ERA in a strike-shortened season. Vuckovich won the AL Cy Young the following year, going 18-6 with a 3.34 ERA. Simmons provided steady offense, hitting .269 with 35 home runs over two seasons.

The Brewers reached the World Series in 1982, losing to the Cardinals in seven games. The core of that Milwaukee team came directly from the December 12 trade.

St. Louis, meanwhile, used the roster flexibility the deal created to construct a different kind of contender. The Cardinals won the World Series in 1982 with a lineup built on the speed of Lonnie Smith, Willie McGee, and Ozzie Smith, and the pitching of LaPoint, one of the players they received in the trade.

Both teams got what they wanted. But the Brewers acquired three players who delivered Hall of Fame-caliber seasons in the short term, and that kind of immediate return from a single trade is rare.