ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals seem ready to reverse their trend of asset mismanagement.
Thanks to some heady moves, the Cardinals are currently exploring offensive options ranging from sensible (regaining outfielder Marcell Ozuna) to spectacular (acquiring third baseman Nolan Arenado).
This is a pleasant surprise, no?
In previous years John Mozeliak and Co. squandered talent surpluses with a series of questionable trades. The Cardinals got mediocre returns in deals that sent outfielders Tommy Pham, Randal Grichuk, Oscar Mercado and Stephen Piscotty to everyday roles elsewhere.
But Mozeliak has rebounded nicely.
First he added free-agent pitcher Kwang Hyun Kim with a modest two-year, $8 million contract. That created the flexibility to upgrade the offense through trades or free agency.
Then he sent extraneous outfielders Jose Martinez and Randy Arozarena to the Tampa Bay Rays for pitcher Matthew Liberatore and catching prospect Edgardo Rodriguez.
Martinez and Arozarena should give the Rays solid production at a low cost, which that franchise needs while playing in its depressing domed dump.
Liberatore, one of the sport's top left-handed pitching prospects, gives the Cardinals a precious commodity.
(Look at it this way: The Rays repaid the Cardinals for the Pham deal, which cost Tampa Bay unpolished pitcher Genesis Cabrera and fringe outfield prospect Justin Williams.)
To offset the loss of Arozarena, the Cardinals acquired outfielder Austin Dean from the Miami Marlins Tuesday and placed him on the Memphis Shuttle. The team spent long-range outfield prospect Diowill Burgos to gain near-term depth.
Mozeliak has gained options and leverage. Kim's signing would make it easier to, say, include Dakota Hudson in an Arenado trade package.
Liberatore became an attractive chip that could go into an Arenado swap or stay to offset the loss of another hurler.
As colleagues Derrick Goold and Ben Frederickson have explained in detail, completing an Arenado deal would be tricky for a host of reasons. But with Liberatore added to the Cardinals' assets, it suddenly became more feasible.
As of Tuesday, the Cardinals and Rockies were in serious trade discussions. Cardinal National was on red alert.
Of course, the Cardinals are working multiple fronts at once. Martinez's departure also reduced the Cardinals' outfield clutter, so bringing back Ozuna or signing Nicholas Castellanos could make more sense now than it did a week ago.
Mozeliak has tried to wait out the market on those two sluggers. It appears the Cardinals, Braves and Rangers are the last three teams pushing hard to add outfield heft.
Maybe, just maybe, the Cardinals could add one of them without overpaying. That would be critical, given that disastrous contract extension Mozeliak gifted Matt Carpenter and the generous free-agent contract he gave Dexter Fowler.
If Mozeliak opts for the outfield play, he can keep Liberatore in development and add to the organization's pitching depth. Liberatore would help fill the void of high-end pitching prospects behind the group that has graduated to the big leagues, either with the Cardinals or elsewhere.
Prospects like Cabrera, Jake Woodford, Alvaro Seijas and Johan Oviedo are comparatively iffy compared to can't-miss predecessors like Sandy Alcantara, Luke Weaver, Dakota Hudson and Jack Flaherty.
The steady pipeline of good young pitching talent has kept this team competitive year after year after year while rival franchises do the whole tank-and-rebuild thing.
Of course, the big organizational failing amid all of this success has been the inability to add elite hitters. Drafting such talent is difficult without the high draft picks that losing begets.
The Cardinals made a play for slugger Giancarlo Stanton, but the brittle outfielder didn't want to play in the STL. Mozeliak coveted Christian Yelich, but the Marlins were reluctant to deal him at that point.
He settled for the Ozuna deal, which yielded just OK returns over two years. Just OK is not OK when a team needs a cornerstone hitter to replace Matt Holliday.
Mozeliak landed star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and locked him in for the long haul. But like Ozuna, Goldschmitdt failed to measure up to his previous performance.
And you must wonder if he ever will, now that he is getting deeper into his 30s.
So now Mozeliak is determined to fill the cleanup hole in his batting order one way or another. Landing Arenado in his athletic prime would be an epic achievement.
Imagine if he pulls off that blockbuster on the heels of Jeff Luhnow's ugly demise in Houston. Imagine Mozeliak showing up at the subsequent news conference with a flashing neon bowtie, double-sized.
A more sensible outcome would be regaining Ozuna _ a known quantity on the field and in the clubhouse _ while hanging on to all the other assets, including Liberatore, until further notice.
One way or another, something good is about to happen. Mozeliak put the Cardinals in a great position.
Now he has to finish the job.
