How do the St. Louis Cardinals do it? How do they find guys like Tommy Pham, Matt Carpenter, and Matt Adams? How do they find guys like Paul DeJong, someone who was never a top-100 prospect, who finishes second in the Rookie of the Year balloting after a stunningly good season which resulted in a .285/.325/.532 line, 25 homers, and 26 doubles in just 108 games played?

Is this for real? Is DeJong really this good? His minor league numbers indicate he could be.

He hit .299/.339/.571 in 48 games at AAA last year, and batted .260/.324/.460 in 132 AA games with 22 homers the year before that. DeJong was worth 3.0 fWAR last season, tied with Trea Turner for 10th-best in baseball. Metrics peg him as an above-average defender at shortstop, too, so expect him to at least be a factor for St. Louis on an every-day basis in 2018.