The St. Louis Cardinals have some decisions to make this offseason.
St. Louis already has done its hardest job of the offseason and added three new starting pitchers to the rotation. The Cardinals had one of the worst rotations in baseball last season and now should be better after adding Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson.
Now the club needs to add a little bit more around the edges — mainly in the bullpen — and handle internal matters. One of those decisions is the future of star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.
Goldschmidt has found his name in trade rumors over the last year and will be a free agent at the end of the 2024 season. Although this is the case, he has made it known that he wants to remain and St. Louis and the two sides reportedly will discuss an extension this offseason, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold.
“The Cardinals will approach Paul Goldschmidt at some point this offseason and hope to have a conversation about an extension — prompting what could be negotiations closer to spring training and then a deal that comes before the start of the season,” Goold said. If that doesn’t happen, the Cardinals will leave the door open for those discussions during the season, looking to do it around the All-Star break, or perhaps after the trade deadline, or, if it gets that far, the final weekend of the regular season.
“Their preference is to do it before the start of the season like they have with (Miles Mikolas) and others. They do not expect it to be a contentious negotiation. Neither side does. The Cardinals believe they’ll find a way to extend Goldschmidt through his final season, and Goldschmidt has said that he does not plan on playing into his 40s as (Albert Pujols), (Yadier Molina) did.”
This isn’t the first time that it’s been mentioned that the two sides will discuss an extension. Goldschmidt has shined since joining the Cardinals ahead of the 2019 campaign and it would be surprising at this point if he’s playing elsewhere anytime soon.
