As talks with Arizona progressed during the past month, the Cardinals, as Girsch described, shifted the “weights” they internally place on long-term vs. short-term decisions. The team’s stockade of young pitchers, shortstop Paul DeJong and center fielder Harrison Bader influenced this decision because the Cardinals believe that group will fuel future contenders. The Cardinals’ prolonged absence from October and recognition it could take at least 95 wins to claim the NL Central added a thumb to the scales. Goldschmidt’s availability and past runner-up finishes for headliners gave the Cardinals the final push.

The ways the Cardinals are looking to improve, he added, are “more focused on how to get better now than worrying about 2020, 2021 and 2022.” There is something else about 2019 beyond the pressure felt to get back into the postseason — 2019 has an end. If the Cardinals’ lineup doesn’t have the success expected, they can walk away from it and go in another direction. If it muscles them back to the top of the division, they pick and choose offers to cement it, and head into next winter’s market looking to augment it. The possibility of third basemen Nolan Arenado, a known target, or Anthony Rendon reaching free agency is but a season away.