St. Louis Cardinals acquire Paul Goldschmidt from Arizona Diamondbacks in four-player trade

Paul Goldschmidt

The St. Louis Cardinals finished three games out of a wild-card spot and seven games back of the National League Central Division lead in 2018.

How should they make up that difference? Trading for the most complete first baseman in baseball is one way to start.

The Cardinals on Wednesday acquired Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly and infielder Andy Young.

I like this move for St. Louis, especially because they did not give up any of their elite prospects, and none of the players they sent to the Diamondbacks figured prominently in their 2019 plans.

Now, Goldschmidt only has one year remaining on his contract, so it's possible this is a one-year rental. But, what a rental it is. Goldschmidt has hit 33 or more home runs in three of the past four seasons, and he has driven in 110 or more runs in three of the past six seasons. His OPS has been .900 or better in five of his six full seasons in MLB, and it was .899 in the one season that it wasn't.

Since his first full season in 2012, Goldschmidt has posted a .400 on-base percentage and .534 slugging percentage, good for a .934 OPS. This is a topnotch middle-of-the-order run producer.

And, oh yeah, he's a three-time Gold Glove winner at first base. The Cardinals now have a much stronger defensive infield with Goldschmidt and second baseman Kolten Wong on the right side. This trade will move Matt Carpenter back to third base, and while I'm not a huge fan of Carpenter at third and Paul DeJong at shortstop -- at least from a defensive perspective --  St. Louis already is better than it was last season.

Can the Cardinals sign Goldschmidt, 32, beyond this year? It won't be easy, although they've traded for and then signed players to long-term deals in the past -- think Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and Matt Holliday. St. Louis tried a similar strategy with Jason Heyward, although it didn't work. Heyward entered free agency and eventually signed with the Cubs. Although Heyward now wears a Cubs World Series ring, perhaps the Cardinals don't regret seeing Heyward walk -- he's mostly struggled with the bat in three years in Chicago.

But I digress. I'm a little bit surprised the Diamondbacks didn't get any star power for Goldschmidt. What they did get is, well, guys who are potential pieces to the puzzle.

Weaver, 25, struggled to a 7-11 record and a 4.95 ERA in his first full season with the Cardinals. He likely wouldn't have a spot in the St. Louis rotation for 2019, but he will have an opportunity in Arizona -- especially with Patrick Corbin now in Washington.

Kelly, 24, hasn't had much playing time in St. Louis -- 63 games over three seasons -- and his .154 career average in the major leagues fails to impress in a small sample size. He wasn't going to take Yadier Molina's job with the Cardinals, but should get a longer look in Arizona.

Young, 24, projects as a utility guy, although second base is his best position. He hit .289 at two levels in 2018, finishing the year at Double-A Springfield, where he hit .319 in 35 games.

It's possible that a couple of these guys will help Arizona, but I don't see a future All-Star in the group. St. Louis did well in this trade.

Now, can the Cardinals add the bullpen piece they need to become serious challengers to the Milwaukee Brewers and Cubs? How about Zach Britton or Andrew Miller? 

Jose Abreu wins AL Rookie of the Year; Jacob deGrom wins NL honor

The American League Rookie of the Year voting, as expected, offered little in the way of drama.

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu became the ninth unanimous winner in the history of the award, earning the first-place vote on all 30 balllots (150 points). Los Angeles Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker (40 points) finished a distant second, while New York Yankees reliever Dellin Betances (27 points) placed third.

Abreu had one of the best offensive seasons ever for a rookie. He hit .317/.383/.581 with 36 homers and 107 RBIs. That's good enough to win the award just about every year, and let's face it, the competition for this honor was not particularly stong this season. It was Abreu and everybody else among AL rookies, especially after Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka went down with an injured elbow midseason.

In fact, if you look at the first-half numbers, you'd have to say Abreu and Tanaka were at one point in a tight race for Rookie of the Year:

• Abreu: .292/.342/.630, 29 HR, 73 RBI
• Tanaka: 12-4, 2.51 ERA, 129.1 IP, 19 BB, 135 K

But, the injury limited Tanaka to just two starts the second half of the season. While Abreu managed just seven home runs the second half, he hit .350 and raised his overall batting average by 25 points. That made Monday's announcement a foregone conclusion.

Abreu becomes the sixth White Sox player to win Rookie of the Year. The others are Luis Aparicio (1956), Gary Peters (1963), Tommie Agee (1966), Ron Kittle (1983) and Ozzie Guillen (1985).

In the National League, New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom won Rookie of the Year. He picked up 26 first-place votes (142 points) and finished comfortably ahead of Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton (92 points). St. Louis Cardinals infielder Kolten Wong (14 points) was third.

The 26-year-old deGrom had a monstrous second half, compiling a 1.99 ERA in his final 15 starts. For the season, he finished 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA. He recorded 144 strikeouts in 140 innings.

Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation, Part II (Kolten Wong Edition)

During the NLCS, I was making fun of Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Nick Punto for getting picked off at an inopportune time.

With that in mind, I would be remiss if I didn't call attention to the terrible baserunning by St. Louis infielder Kolten Wong on Sunday in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series.

The Cardinals were trailing the Boston Red Sox 4-2 when pinch hitter Allen Craig hit a ball off the right field wall with one out in the ninth. Craig, hobbled by foot and ankle injuries, cannot run at all right now and only reached first base on the deep drive that would have been a double under normal circumstances. Understandably, Wong was summoned to pinch run for the injured Craig.

After Matt Carpenter popped up, Carlos Beltran was the last hope for the Cardinals. If you're St. Louis, Beltran is probably the guy you most want representing your last hope. He was up there representing the tying run, and he has 16 career postseason home runs to his credit. One swing of the bat and the game could be tied.

Well, Beltran never got that swing because Boston closer Koji Uehara (pictured) picked Wong off to end the game. To be fair, Wong slipped on his way back to first base, but nevertheless, such a baserunning miscue is intolerable.

It would be one thing if Wong was representing the tying run. If that were the case, the stolen base would be in play. Down one run, you might be thinking about getting a big lead and a good jump. But down two runs? With a power hitter at the plate? You're not running in that spot. Wong's job in that situation was to take a one-way lead, not get picked off and run when Beltran hit the ball. It was a simple task, but he blew it.

The Red Sox finished off the 4-2 win and the best-of-seven series is now tied, 2-2.

Obstruction call was correct

A quick word about the ending to Game 3: The obstruction call on the last play of the game that awarded St. Louis a 5-4 victory was the correct one. It doesn't matter that people "don't want to see a World Series game end that way." Rules are rules, and the umpires enforced the rules. If the pitcher had committed an obvious balk, should the umpire not call it because it's the ninth inning of a World Series game? I believe he should, and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous.

I felt no sympathy for the Red Sox whatsoever. The umpires weren't the ones who got into a second-and-third, one-out jam. The umpires weren't the ones who threw the ball away. The Red Sox did that, and they deserved to lose.

I think Boston has a well-run organization, a good front office, a good manager, and I respect the Red Sox for the success they've had on the field over the last 10 years. But I grow tired of their whiny fan base very, very quickly.  I have a feeling if Boston doesn't win this series, the fans are going to be bitching and moaning about this obstruction thing for the rest of their days.

Spare me. I don't want to hear about it. Don't make any movies about this call. Don't write any books about it. I don't want to see or hear any crap interviews from celebrity fans about the injustice of it all. I don't want to see any stupid documentary about this incident 10 years from now. Take the pain. It's over. The Red Sox players moved on quickly and took care of business in Game 4. The fans better move on as well. It's anybody's series now, and both teams have every opportunity to win. There will be no excuses for either side when it's over.