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? 

Following up: Carson Fulmer stays in race for fifth-starter spot

The White Sox offense produced 20 hits and five walks in a 15-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, but Carson Fulmer's performance still is the story coming out of this game.

Fulmer entered Monday's outing with an unsightly 18.90 Cactus League ERA, but this latest performance will help. The right-hander worked four scoreless, hitless innings. He struck out four and walked three.

Pretty good, right?

Yeah, in comparison to other outings this spring, Fulmer was spectacular. However, I still have reservations about putting him in the starting rotation when the regular season starts.

Fulmer threw 72 pitches Monday, and only 38 of them were for strikes -- a 52.8 percent strike percentage. Velocity was good -- 91 to 94 mph on the fastball -- movement was good -- there's a reason he gave up no hits -- but his command still leaves a lot to be desired.

At one point, spanning the second and third innings, Fulmer missed the strike zone on 15 out of 16 pitches.

After getting the first two outs of the second inning, Fulmer issued a four-pitch walk and fell behind 2-0 to Daniel Descalso before getting a fly out to end the inning.

He started the third inning with a pair of four-pitch walks. After Jarrod Dyson's deep flyout, Fulmer fell behind in the count 3-0 to A.J. Pollock before rallying to record a strikeout. Pollock was caught looking at a 3-2 fastball that might have been low, and given his wildness, Fulmer was fortunate to get a call for the second out. He then got Paul Goldschmidt to fly out to end the Arizona scoring opportunity.

Fulmer navigated a successful fourth inning. He might have come back out for the fifth had the Sox not scored seven runs in the top of that inning. That's too long for a pitcher to sit in a spring training game, so the Sox wisely went to the bullpen.

Fulmer's competition for the rotation spot, Hector Santiago, pitched two scoreless innings of relief in this game, which also featured three-hit performances from Adam Engel and Matt Davidson.

Both Engel and Davidson have hit over .300 this spring, so it appears both will hold their roster spots.

Michael Kopech, however, has been assigned to minor-league camp, as expected, in a roster move made Tuesday.

No surprise: Miguel Cabrera and Andrew McCutchen win MVPs

I don't have any brilliant analysis to offer about this year's MVP awards, but since we've been talking about postseason honors on this blog this week, I should probably note that Detroit third baseman Miguel Cabrera and Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen have been named the MVPs of their respective leagues.

Neither vote was a surprise. Cabrera led the American League in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.442) and slugging percentage (.636). He ranked second in home runs (44) and RBIs (137) behind Chris Davis of Baltimore.

Cabrera got 23 of the 30 first-place votes and finished comfortably ahead of Los Angeles outfielder Mike Trout. Davis took third in the balloting.

McCutchen won in a landslide, picking up 28 of the first-place votes in the National League. He batted .317 with 21 home runs, 84 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. He also played an excellent center field in leading Pittsburgh to its first winning season and first playoff appearance since 1992.

Arizona's Paul Goldschmidt finished second, while St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina took third.