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? 

Hey, Nick Punto! Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation...

Some years ago, I was watching a White Sox game on a Saturday afternoon, and former Sox first base coach Ron Jackson was miked up for one of those "Fox Sounds of the Game" segments.

One of the clips they played featured Jackson telling former Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillen, who was on first base at the time, "Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation."

Thank you, Captain Obvious. As if there is any situation where it would be considered OK to get picked off.

Speaking of getting picked off, Los Angeles infielder Nick Punto got picked off at pretty bad time Tuesday in Game 4 of the NLCS. The Dodgers were trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Punto reached second base on a one-out double.

Los Angeles had the top of its batting order coming up, and it appeared the Dodgers would have a chance to get back in the game in this inning. Alas, Punto was picked off second base by St. Louis reliever Carlos Martinez. Los Angeles didn't score, and the Cardinals took a 3-1 lead in the series with a 4-2 victory.

Maybe Punto would have benefited from having Jackson standing next to him there on second base.

"Don't wanna get picked off here in this situation." That's sage advice right there.

Would you believe it if I told you the Cardinals are hitting just .148 as a team in this series, despite their 3-1 advantage? It's true, but on this night two home runs made the difference for St. Louis. Matt Holliday, who had no hits the first three games of the series, hit a mammoth two-run blast off Los Angeles starter Ricky Nolasco in the third inning. Little-used reserve Shane Robinson added a solo shot in the seventh, his first hit in the playoffs, to account for the final run of the evening.

The Dodgers are on the ropes, but I wouldn't count them out. Remember, St. Louis had a 3-1 lead in the NLCS last year as well, and it failed to close out eventual World Series champion San Francisco. The Dodgers will need a big start from Zack Greinke in Game 5 Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals will counter with right-hander Joe Kelly.

Boston takes 2-1 lead in ALCS

I mentioned the Cardinals' lousy team batting average in the league championship series. Well, the Red Sox are doing even worse. Boston is hitting just .133 as a team through the first three games of the ALCS, yet it finds itself ahead 2-1 after a 1-0 win in Detroit on Tuesday.

John Lackey fired 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, and Mike Napoli hit a solo home run off Detroit's Justin Verlander for the only run of the game in the top of the seventh inning. Verlander was dominant otherwise; at one point he struck out six batters in a row. He finished with 10 strikeouts and allowed just four hits over eight innings, but Napoli's blast was enough to beat him.

The game's pivotal moment, though, came in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Tigers looked poised to tie or possibly take the lead with runners at first and third and only one out, with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder due to hit. The table was set for Detroit's best RBI men. But Junichi Tazawa fanned Cabrera, getting him to chase a pitch that was well outside for strike three. Boston closer Koji Uehara was summoned to face Fielder, and he fanned the Tigers first baseman on just three pitches.

If the Red Sox go on to win this series, those two strikeouts of Cabrera and Fielder might be considered the turning point.