Opening Day 2019 is here!!! Bryce Harper and Manny Machado were not the only perennial All-Stars to change teams this offseason. In case you do not remember, on December 5th, 2019, the Arizona Diamondbacks agreed to trade 1B Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals for SP Luke Weaver, C Carson Kelly, IF Andy Young and a compensatory draft pick in Round B. The six-time All-Star with four Silver Slugger Awards is now a member with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Arizona Diamondbacks decided to trade their franchise cornerstone player, in the last year of his contract, in fear of not being able to sign him when the 2020 offseason came around. The D-Backs loss is the Cardinals gain. This trade gives the Cardinals the middle-of-the-order bat that had been missing since Albert Pujols left and signed with the Los Angeles Angels.
It is not an everyday thing where you have the ability to trade for one of baseball's best overall players and have him in your everyday lineup. In fact, the Cardinals now have "Goldy" for this year and for the next 5 years after 2019. Paul Goldschmidt signed a 5 year, $130m extension last week and will now wear Cardinal red for the foreseeable future.
How does this acquisition and extension change the Cardinals franchise? How does this impact the balance of power in the National League Central division and in all of Major League Baseball? This humble superstar, Paul Goldschmidt, can change everything for the team in Cardinal red.
Goldy was drafted in the eighth round of the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks out of Texas State. Texas State, of the Southland Conference, is where Paul set the school's home run and RBI records. In his three-year career, he was named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Year twice and the Player of the Year in his junior season.
After getting drafted in 2009, Goldy agreed to a deal with a $95,000 signing bonus and was assigned to the Missoula Osprey in Rookie ball where he sprayed the baseball all over the yard. In his first 74 professional games, Paul finished with a stat line with a .334 batting average, 18 home runs, and 62 runs batted in. His 18 bombs were a record for any player who had ever put on a Missoula Osprey jersey.
In 2010, Goldschmidt was sent to High Class-A with the Visalia Rawhide and spent the entire season playing in the California League. The trend continued for Goldy in 2010 as it did in 2009, he absolutely raked. He mashed in 138 games while hitting .306 with 35 bombs and 108 RBIs. 35 homers was not even the leading number in that category as Goldy was beaten out by a couple now major leaguers in Mike Moustakas and Mark Trumbo.
He was at the top of the minds of the Arizona Diamondbacks front office after barreling through his freshman and sophomore seasons in professional baseball. Goldy in 2011 showed that he deserved to start the new season in Double-A with the Mobile Bay Bears. The Bay Bears, at the time, were in the Diamondbacks farm system, they now reside in the Tampa Bay Rays organization. In fact the Bay Bears are now the Trash Pandas (these minor league names get crazier by the year) and are moving to outside of Huntsville, Alabama in 2020.
Back to Goldy, he continued to hit the baseball at a very high level. In 103 games with Mobile, he had a .306 batting average, 30 tanks, and 94 RBIs. Oh, he also had an OPS of 1.061. You want to know why he only played 103 games? Because the D-backs promoted him to the big league club, bypassing Triple-A, and now Paul Goldschmidt was officially in The Show.
It was a learning process for Goldy when he got to the big league club. Because he raced past AAA, it still took him awhile to learn major league pitching as that takes time for any prospect who skipped a stop in the organization. In just 48 games, he hit .250 with 8 home runs.
The club, however, did make the postseason in 2011, which the Cardinals won the World Series, and Goldy shined in the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. The D-Backs lost the series in the decisive Game 5 but it Game 3, Goldy added a grand slam. Which at the time was only the sixth time a rookie had done such a thing.
Heading into the 2012 campaign, Goldy made the team as the club's starting first baseman and never looked back. In his first full MLB season, Paul hit very well just like he did in his first two years as a professional. He finished with a .286 batting average, 20 HRs, 82 RBIs along with 18 stolen bases.
Knowing that they had something special in Paul, the D-backs offered a new and shiny five-year contract worth a total of $32 million, and a now important club option in 2019 for $14.5 million. This contract proved to be an absolute steal for the club and was the most team friendly deal in all of baseball.
In seven years with the club, Goldschmidt put up ungodly type numbers and was named an All-Star six times. In four of those years, he hit 30 or more home runs (wow this guy is good, wonder why you trade him away) and in five of those years he finished with 90+ RBIs.
Paul finished 2nd in NL MVP voting in 2013 and 2015. In 2013, he hit 36 HRs with 125 RBIs. In 2015, he finished with 33 HRs and 110 RBIs. He lost the MVP in 2013 to Pittsburgh Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen and finished behind Bryce Harper in 2015 (read my last baseball piece on him, here).
2014 was an injury-plagued campaign for him and he only played in 109 games after taking a pitch off of his hand which ended his season.
Goldy must love odd numbered years because in 2017 he put up the same high caliber numbers he possessed in 2013 and 2015 (good thing 9 is an odd number for the Cards). Yeah he just had a .297 batting average, 36 bombs and 128 RBIs. He still finished 3rd! in MVP voting losing out to former Marlins OF Giancarlo Stanton.
Oh, I also failed to mention that Goldschmidt won three Gold Gloves as the best first baseman in 2013, 2015, and 2017 (again odd numbered years).
The D-Backs play in a tough division in the National League West so they only made the playoffs twice in Goldy's Arizona career. The 2017 postseason was not kind to Goldy where here had a .091 batting average with one HR in five games.
During the 2018 season, he put up great numbers as well and the D-Backs exercised his $14.5 million club option (obviously!) for 2019. Many people thought Goldschmidt would be a Diamondback for life but the D-Back faithful's dream died on December 5th. Scared of potentially losing him in the offseason for nothing, they dealt him to the St. Louis Cardinals for SP Luke Weaver, C Carson Kelly, IF Andy Young and a Competitive Round B draft pick.
The Cardinals, after missing the playoffs the last three years, were destined to add star power to their lineup and my oh my they did. Goldy completely changes the complexion for the Cardinals 2019 season and the NL Central race. Hall of Fame Manager for the Cardinals, Tony La Russa, worked in the Diamondbacks front office when Goldy was in Arizona. He had a nickname for him, Albert P. Pujols.
Pujols was the star of the Cardinals lineup and St. Louis finally has the replacement for him, that the team, and the city, had been craving for since he left. Cardinal fans still had reservations, is this not just for one year? Well, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak calmed the nerves of the Best Fans in Baseball. The team and Paul Goldschmidt agreed to a 5-year, $130 million extension starting in 2020.
Cardinal fans can rest easy, knowing that one of the best hitters in the entire sport, is is Cardinal red for six seasons.
Goldschmidt never likes to talk about himself a lot and is usually quiet around the media. His voice is quiet but his bat is the loudest around. The Cardinals have high expectations for themselves and the BFIB do as well. The Cardinals lineup is led by leadoff 3B Matt Carpenter and LF Marcell Ozuna has all of the potential in the world, to be the most dangerous cleanup hitting in the National League. With the pitching staff kept in check by future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina (anybody who does not think that is insane) the starting rotation will always be prepared and the bullpen is much improved after a lackluster and very inconsistent 2018.
According to BetOnline, Goldy has the third best odds at +900 to win the National League MVP, behind Phillies RF Bryce Harper and Colorado Rockies 3B Nolan Arenado. The Cardinals, as a club, are also the third best favorite to win the National League at +700 behind the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies.
The St. Louis Cardinals have the potential to win the World Series and Goldy can carry them there.
Goldy was born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father. He is an evangelical Christian and he and his wife, Amy, will represent the St. Louis community well. A baseball masher on the field, and an overall great guy off the field, looks to guide the Cardinals back to the promised land. Can he do it? We'll find out in October. Game 1 of 162, let's go.
Goldy's first time in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform will be on Opening Day in Milwaukee against the Brewers at 1:00 PM CT on MLB.TV and ESPN+
Sources:
MILB.com
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