Cardinals first baseman is experiencing the least productive season of his illustrious big league career, but the soon-to-be 37-year-old told MLB.com’s John Denton that he fully intends to continue his career in 2025.
The seven-time All-Star was awarded National League MVP in 2022, but he has had a significant drop-off in nearly every offensive statistic in 2024, to the point that he is now a below-average hitter for the first time in his career (99 wRC+, 96 OPS+).
On the season, Goldschmidt carries just a .244/.302/.410 batting line. He’s still popped 20 home runs, but his 27.2% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rates are the worst of his career. To his credit, Goldschmidt has righted the ship of late, slashing a much-improved .295/.342/.532 (141 wRC+) over his last 150 plate appearances. He’s still not walking anywhere near his career 12.7% rate (6.3% during this hot streak), but he’s cut his strikeout rate (23.3%) to be closer to his career levels.
Goldschmidt made no excuses for his troubles this season, saying, “There’s no denying I haven’t played well.” The five-time Silver Slugger winner admitted that his problems had “created some bad habits” in his swing that were difficult to change.
Denton also spoke with manager Oli Marmol, who stated that he “loves” Goldschmidt when questioned about a possible reunion for the 2025 season.
Obviously, that will not be Marmol’s final decision. Goldschmidt was acquired from the D-backs by John Mozeliak, the president of baseball operations. Goldschmidt was soon extended by the Cardinals to a five-year, $130 million contract, and he is now in his final season of what has proven to be a terrific deal for the team.
The Cardinals are allegedly interested in re-signing Goldschmidt, but there are also in-house options to consider.
Alec Burleson, 25, began the season with two months of roughly average offense at the bat before lighting fire throughout the summer. He’s now hitting.280/.320/.453 for the season. Burleson has largely played corner outfield and designated hitter in 2024, although he isn’t a terrific outfield defender. A shift to first base could be beneficial, especially if the Cardinals plan to use another weak defender, Jordan Walker, as their right fielder in the future.
There’s also Luken Baker, 27, to consider. While he is older than the typical “prospect,” Baker hit 33 home runs in just 84 Triple-A games in 2023 and 32 more in 108 Triple-A games this season. Baker has yet to hit in 126 big league plate appearances (.202/.325/.356, 30.2% strikeout rate), but his Triple-A power hitting record is intriguing. At the very least, his right-handed bat might form a platoon with Burleson’s lefty swing, with both players getting time as designated hitters. Baker has devastated lefties this season, with a 1.142 OPS and 15 homers in 150 plate appearances against them.
A Goldschmidt reunion would reduce Burleson and Baker’s playing time. It’d be understandable if the Cards’ front staff chose to redirect whatever resources would be spent on a Goldschmidt deal to pitching help. At the same time, if the Cardinals believe Goldschmidt’s late surge is a sign of a rebound in 2025, re-signing him on a short-term contract makes sense.
From a payroll standpoint, there is a solid rationale for allocating the resources elsewhere. The Cardinals’ payroll has been within a few million dollars of $180 million in each of the last two seasons ($183 million in 2024), and according to RosterResource, they already have approximately $111 million on the books for next year. That excludes judgments on Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn’s matching $12 million options, as well as arbitration raises for Ryan Helsley, JoJo Romero, John King, Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, Andre Pallante, and Nolan Gorman.
Even at a supposedly decreased rate from his present $26 million annual deal, Goldschmidt would likely cost the Cardinals more than $150 million before any other prospective additions. That money may potentially be better spent elsewhere, such as assigning first base to a mix of Burleson and Baker — or just a lower-cost free agent option (e.g., Carlos Santana).
Goldschmidt’s future is one of several critical considerations for the Cardinals as they seek to put their disastrous 2023-24 seasons behind them. bottom year, the club went 71-91, finishing bottom in the NL Central. They’ll do better than that in 2024 (69-69), but they’re 5.5 games out of the final wild-card place with only 24 games remaining, making a postseason berth unlikely this season. That would be the first time St. Louis has missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons since a three-year hiatus in 2016-18, and only the third time since the turn of the century.
