The St. Louis Cardinals landed perennial All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt from the D-backs for top prospects Carson Kelly and Luke Weaver and Minor League infielder Andy Young along with a compensation pick in Round B of the 2019 MLB Draft. The Cardinals get the impact bat they were in search of and they gave away a pitcher who struggled with consistency and a catcher who is lazy behind the plate.
Weaver started 25 games and went 7-11 with an ERA of 4.95. Kelly was going to be stuck behind Yadier Molina for a couple of years. In a small sample size he was a sub-par defensive catcher.
The 31-year old Goldschmidt has one year remaining on his contract before he becomes a free agent. According to MLB Stats, Goldschmidt has posted a .400 on-base percentage and .534 slugging, good for a .934 OPS. All of those figures rank in the Majors’ top seven. Since 2013, Goldschmidt ranks second in the NL in hits, home runs, RBIs, runs, walks and extra-base hits. Goldschmidt is due to make $14.5 million in 2019.
“We’ve been busy this off-season working to upgrade our lineup, and today we are excited to announce the acquisition of one of the game’s premier players in first baseman Paul Goldschmidt,” stated Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak.