15 best trades in St. Louis Cardinals history

#1 - Ozzie Smith (1982)

Cardinals acquire: SS Ozzie Smith, RHP Steve Mura, and LHP Al Olmsted
Padres acquire: SS Garry Templeton, OF Sixto Lezcano, and RHP Luis DeLeon

Total surplus fWAR: 42.6

Who else but The Wizard for the best trade in Cardinals history!

Ozzie Smith is one of the most iconic players in Cardinals history. If you ask a baseball fan to name the best Cardinals ever, Smith's name will be one of the first names to come up, and for good reason.

Accurately nicknamed "The Wizard" based on his incredible defense, Smith ranks first all-time among all players in FanGraphs' Defensive Rating. Among shortstops, Smith ranks fourth all-time in innings played, eighth in putouts, first in assists, and second in double plays. His 13 Gold Gloves are the most all-time at shortstop, and considering how difficult a position it is to play, the fact that he has nine more than the second-place Brandon Crawford should tell you just how good Smith was.

Smith won the 1982 World Series with the Cardinals and was named the 1985 NLCS MVP, where Smith's iconic walk-off home run in Game 5 helped lead the Cardinals to the pennant.

Smith was a 15-time All-Star, a one-time Silver Slugger winner, and received MVP votes in six different seasons, including a runner-up finish in 1987. Oh, and he had that iconic back flip!

How did the trade come to be? Cardinals' manager White Herzog was looking to take advantage of the turf at Busch Stadium and wanted the best possible defensive shortstop he could find, and targeted Smith, who would become the best defensive shortstop in MLB history. The Cardinals sent their shortstop, Garry Templeton, to San Diego in the deal, as both shortstops were unhappy with their current situations.

While Templeton was a valuable player for the Padres, Smith's 59.5 fWAR as a Cardinal ranks fourth in franchise history behind just Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, and Albert Pujols, and his 67.6 career fWAR is ninth among all shortstops all-time.

On top of that, Smith ranks third all-time in stolen bases for St. Louis, fourth in games played, seventh in runs scored, eighth in hits, 11th in doubles, and 15th in RBI.

Smith remains one of the faces of Cardinals history and may be on the Mount Rushmore of Cardinals players. He's continued to be an active part of the organization following his playing career, and it's hard to think of the Birds on the Bat and all the Cardinals represent and not think of Smith.

That's a wrap on the 15 best trades in St. Louis Cardinals history! If you're interested in some other all-time lists, you can check out the 15 worst trades in Cardinals history here and the 15 worst free-agent signings in Cardinals history here!