Cardinals Rumors: A pitcher to claim, Paul Goldschmidt trade talk, protect this prospect
By Mark Powell
Cardinals Rumors: Time to trade Paul Goldschmidt?
Rival executives are curious as to the St. Louis Cardinals long-term plans with Paul Goldschmidt. Goldy has a year left on his contract after the 2023 season. Given that level of uncertainty, could the Cards offload Goldschmidt now when his value is still high?
It seems unlikely. The Cardinals have a lot of faith in the core of Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, even if it’s not working for them in the moment. Pitching help is on the way from the minor leagues in the year to come, and if anything, St. Louis could add at the deadline in preparation for a late-season run or even 2024. ESPN’s Jeff Passan posed the question, though:
“…Might the Cardinals consider moving reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt? With one year left on his contract, Goldschmidt would be a tremendous fit in the middle of any lineup — though with a full no-trade clause, he would need to be on board with any deal for it to happen.”
From the sounds of it, said rival executive is merely hoping Goldschmidt becomes available, rather than speaking from a place of knowledge. Trading away Goldschmidt or Arenado would set the Cards back for years, and force them into a rebuild the fanbase didn’t ask for. Both players are in their competitive primes.
Expect the Cards to add, or at worst trade away some rental piece and/or outfielders, since that is a position of relative strength. Pitching is somewhere this team could improve.
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