The Arizona Diamondbacks are blowing it up and the St. Louis Cardinals are the beneficiary, or so we think? St. Louis finished off a deal that will send Luke Weaver, Carson Kelly, Andy Young, and a Competitive Balance Round B pick in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt. Cardinal fans are hype but should they be?
Welcome to Arizona! The #Dbacks have acquired right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver, catcher Carson Kelly, infielder Andrew Young and a 2019 Competitive Balance Round B draft pick from the Cardinals in exchange for Paul Goldschmidt. pic.twitter.com/ylANMvt8kU
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) December 5, 2018
From the Cardinal expectation, I have no idea if they gave up too much or too little. Luke Weaver throws gas. There’s no issue hitting 98 on a consistent basis. The problem is he only has two pitches. He might end up being a lot like former Cardinal, Joe Kelly. Weaver, 25, is a boom or bust kind of guy. In 233 career innings, Weaver has a 4.79 ERA with 9.2 strikeouts per 9. Carson Kelly is a big league catcher with no bat. Kelly has a .154 average in 117 at-bats isn’t cutting it. Both Kelly and Weaver are young major league pieces. The key is will they pop? No one knows for sure.
Here’s the issue. Does Paul Goldschmidt make the Cardinals World Series contender in 2019? Goldschmidt, 31, will earn $14.5 million in the final year of team control. If the Cardinals can win the World Series in 2019 then I get it. However, I’m not sure the Cardinals are good? The Cardinals won 89 games last year but they still have plenty of work to do.
The Cardinals just have a bunch of guys in my eyes. Kolten Wong? Paul DeJong? Tyler O’Neil? Harrison Bader? Where are the stars that are needed to win a title? Matt Carpenter is one. The Cardinals need Marcell Ozuna to be another. Ozuna’s production dropped from 2016 (.312/.376/.548 – 37 HR) to 2017 (.280/.325/.433 – 23 HR). The problem is now Ozuna and Goldschmidt come with one-year of control.
Will the Cardinals extend both of them to big money deals? How valuable is an aging Goldy? Don’t forget, he started the 2018 season on a horrendous note but finished with .290 average and 33 home runs. He also is a gold glove first baseman. Don’t forget, St. Louis refused to give Albert Pujols a huge contract and they were right. What happens if Goldschmidt wants a 10-year deal? It’s the reason why they are out on the Bryce Harper and Manny Machado sweepstakes. It’s the Cardinal way.
If you’re going to make this move, you better win the division. St. Louis has more work to do. Add another starter. Clean up the bullpen. Add one more bat. I’ll never bang on a team for going for it but once you’re in, you better be all the way in. The Diamondbacks are going the other way. Arizona is going to end up with 7 of the first 75 picks in the 2019 Draft because of this trade and other free agent departures. It’s possible we look back on this deal as the start of the next great Diamondback team.
