The St. Louis Cardinals are among MLB's best stories so far this season, overachieving to the tune of a 33-25 record as of this writing. The Cards are just three games back of the NL Central-leading Cubs despite their own front office considering this season a retooling year. While the Cardinals may not win the World Series, a playoff run is a possibility if they keep playing like this. That could all come without Nolan Arenado, who is on the trade block still, and Paul Goldschmidt.
St. Louis let Goldy walk in MLB free agency this past winter. Goldschmidt has a wonderful career in St. Louis, but it had run its course. His final season with the Cards was an uninspiring one, as he hit just .245 and accumulated 1.3 WAR. However, Goldschmidt turned over a new lead with the New York Yankees, perhaps thanks to a new set of hitting instructors and a fresh mindset. So far this season, Goldschmidt has surpassed his 2024 WAR in just two months, and is hitting .338 with an .889 OPS.
St. Louis Cardinals are missing Paul Goldschmidt's leadership
The Cardinals can overcome missing out on Goldschmidt's swan song. What they might miss the most, however, is his locker room leadership. After Goldschmidt's new team, the New York Yankees, lost in embarrassing fashion to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night, the 37-year-old first baseman said all the right things.
“The focus has to be on coming out and playing well [Sunday]. Regardless of what’s going to happen with this series, we know that there’s a lot of season left," Goldschmidt said. Goldy, followed by a litany of other Yankees veterans, reiterated that they hadn't lost faith in their Yankees teammates. It is only June 1, after all.
Cardinals have an idea of who their next Paul Goldschmidt is
Back in March, the Cardinals spoke fondly of Goldschmidt to the media, while also acknowledging this very theme – that it'd be tough to replace him in the clubhouse. The young Cardinals pitched a couple of leaders to be their new clubhouse voice, including Arenado and Brendan Donovan.
“That's an easy one: Donnie,” Alec Burleson said at the time. “He's got that kind of leadership quality around him. He's another family guy. He always wants to help the young guys. He's definitely one who could step into that role, for sure.”
The only problem with both Arenado and Donovan, of course, is that they could be trade bait come to the deadline should this St. Louis run come to a screeching halt. Arenado turned down a trade to the Astros this winter, and could very well be back on the block in July. Donovan would be far tougher to pry away from St. Louis, but the emergence of JJ Wetherholt in Double A could one day make him expendable, too.
Investing in youth is great, and exactly how St. Louis' front office should be going about their rebuild. But surrounding those young players with proven veterans to teach them valuable lessons along the way is incredibly important. The Cards cannot lose sight of that.