The St. Louis Cardinals don’t seem prepared to part ways with potential Hall of Fame first baseman Paul Goldschmidt despite the player’s financial difficulties in 2024. After the season, the Cardinals will speak with Goldschmidt to determine whether he would be interested in signing a new contract, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (paid subscription required).
As he approaches his 36th birthday, Goldschmidt—who is presently in the last year of a five-year contract—shouldn’t be too shocked by the prospect of having a career-low season. With a hitting average of.232 and an OPS+ of90, he is now the seventh hitter in the lineup according to Cardinals manager Oli Marmol.
The Cardinals still seem to think that Goldschmidt can be a valuable bat for the team, even in a supporting role, despite his recent troubles. Goldschmidt’s minimum pay for 2025 would be $17.6 million if the Cardinals decide to re-sign him before he is able to enter free agency. However, they are only permitted to reduce his contract by a maximum of 20% in this scenario. Naturally, the Cardinals and Goldschmidt may work out a new deal that does not have to fulfill this requirement if they wait until the free agency season and let Goldschmidt talk to other teams about terms.
The best course of action for the Cardinals to compete in 2025 would be to let Goldschmidt go free and see if he is prepared to accept a wage reduction of more than 20%. Goldschmidt would accept a lower salary if he were willing to stay in St. Louis and pursue a championship, allowing the Cardinals to allocate more funds towards team improvements. The Cardinals seem adamant about wanting Goldschmidt to wear the birds on the bat for the remainder of his career. Alec Burleson appears to be the first baseman of the future, but if the Cardinals can convince Goldschmidt to play in a platoon with Burleson, who still has a.804 OPS against left-handers, Goldschmidt could be a great backup player in 2022, filling the same role as Cardinals great Albert Pujols did.
