The Cardinals have missed on some expensive offers the past three winters and missed the playoffs in each of the following seasons.

“The big plays,” DeWitt Jr. said, “would have limited what we would have done elsewhere.”

An accessible example is the Stanton salary, which would have been a portion of the $26 million he’s owed for 2019. Into that line on the ledger the Cardinals have fit two players they wouldn’t have chased if Stanton was in their lineup: Marcell Ozuna ($12.25 million) and Goldschmidt ($15.5 million). DeWitt called the current roster “a payroll we can live with,” and yet they may not be able to tiptoe around a bigger commitment much longer. The Cardinals have finalized two $100 million contracts, none since Matt Holliday’s nine years ago. The Cardinals affirmed this weekend their intent to re-sign Goldschmidt, and that could take a five-year, $150 million offer or more. That length of contract, even into Goldschmidt’s mid-30s, is more palatable to the Cardinals than the 10-year contracts some free agents are chasing in their 20s.