Cardinals' ideal Paul Goldschmidt replacement could be a former St. Louis villain

From afar, I don't really know what the St. Louis Cardinals are doing of late, other than it is not good. Outside of when I was a really little guy, the Cardinals have been a mostly competent operation for most of my 35 years on this planet. It was not that long ago that they had the best corner infield tandem in baseball with Nolan Arenado manning third base and Paul Goldschmidt covering the bag over at first.

Flash forward to the 2024-25 MLB offseason, and there is a very good chance neither are back with the Cardinals. Arenado may be traded, while Goldschmidt is hitting free agency in his late 30s. While both players are probably on track to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame one day, there is a good chance neither will be wearing a Cardinals cap. It simply did not pan out for them...

As John Mozeliak tries to shop Arenado and Goldschmidt looks for somewhere else to play, I think a great stop-gap solution exists at first base if the Cardinals are serious about getting back to good. Yes, I am talking about signing fellow 30-something first baseman Anthony Rizzo in free agency. He is best known for his time with the Chicago Cubs, but had been a key member of the New York Yankees.

It is hard to gauge what the Cardinals want to do, but whatever they have been doing is not working.

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Anthony Rizzo could be the one to replace Paul Goldschmidt in St. Louis

We really do not need to overthink this. All signs point to Goldschmidt walking. While he could technically return, let's not count on it. As far as if Rizzo would leave New York for the Cardinals, it all may come down to where Juan Soto decides to play. If he re-ups with the Yankees, maybe Rizzo will want to return. Then again, Soto's new contract may be too pricey to pay Rizzo a premium as well.

I think at this stage of the game for Rizzo, he needs to go to one of two types of places. He could go to a team that is contending for championships like the Yankees, or he could go to a place where he could conceivably play every day like he could in St. Louis. If he can get the best of both worlds at one spot, that may be the right place for him. He and Goldschmidt's markets are one and the same.

Overall, I think you could go with Rizzo to help rid yourself of some of the Goldschmidt baggage that has materialized. Yes, Rizzo played for the Cubs back in the day, but baseball is a business and players go to teams that they used to hate competing in the same division as them. He would not be the first former Cub to go play for the Cardinals, or vice versa, and he certainly will not be the last.

If the Cardinals really do want to move on from Goldschmidt, there are worse options than Rizzo.