ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals on Wednesday acquired the middle-order and perennial MVP candidate that they've spent more than the past two winters trying to land.
The Cardinals landed Paul Goldschmidt in a four-player deal that sent catcher Carson Kelly, right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver and minor-league infielder Andy Young to Arizona. The deal also includes a compensation-round draft pick in the 2019 draft.
Two sources confirmed Wednesday afternoon to the Post-Dispatch that momentum was building for an agreement and that the deal was possibly as far along as notifying the involved players.
A deal was finalized Wednesday afternoon.
Goldschmidt, 31, has one year remaining on his contract and will be a free agent a year from now. The Cardinals have wanted to acquire a player who they could spend a season with and determine if the pairing is a lasting fit. The Cardinals would then seek to extend Goldschmidt before he reaches free agency.
The right-handed-hitting All-Star has had four consecutive seasons of at least 24 home runs and at least 80 RBIs, and he's got a career OPS of .930. (He also pulverizes NL Central opponents, as mentioned before.) In 2018, Goldschmidt won the Silver Slugger award ahead of other NL first basemen like Joey Votto, Anthony Rizzo, and the Cardinals' Matt Carpenter with a .290/.389/.533 slash line, .922 OPS, and 33 home runs.
Carpenter would move to third base to accommodate Goldschmidt.
