You’ve got a first-place team and masher Marcell Ozuna returning soon. But you need a fifth starter. Heck, before it’s over, you might need a fourth and fifth starter. Even teenage sensation Nolan Gorman should be considered as a Cards trade piece, if it nets you, say, Syndergaard and his blowtorch arm, especially considering you get “Thor” for the rest of this year, all of 2020 and 2021.

General manager Michael Girsch said Tuesday afternoon that the Cardinals have spent an “inordinate” amount of time on the phone trying to make deals.

“I think what we’re trying to do — what every contender is trying to — is weigh the value of wins in 2019 versus wins in 2021, 2022 and 2023,” Girsch said. “And that equation varies for a lot of reasons. Look, we’re in a good spot that we are fighting for a division (championship) and not just for a wild card. That puts us in a different spot than some other teams that are in this market. But there’s no magic formula. It’s somewhat feel. But our mission is to field a playoff-caliber team every year. And that means you can’t give away 2021, 2022 and 2023 blindly in pursuit of 2019.

“There has to be a rational approach to this. And that’s what we’re trying to do. But we want to help this team, we want to make a move, but we can’t force it to happen.”