Odds Against Cardinals Trading Paul Goldschmidt by July 31 MLB Deadline
- Paul Goldschmidt traded to St. Louis by Arizona on December 5th and is entering his final contract year
- Will the Cardinals be buyers or sellers on July 31st?
- Will Goldy stay in St. Louis or join a contender given his hefty salary?
Paul Goldschmidt is turning 32 and is set to earn a base salary of $14.5 million, which is peanuts compared to some other contracts signed this offseason by high caliber players, but poses quite the gamble for possible suitors.
Another intangible is, will the St. Louis Cardinals be buyers or sellers come the MLB Trade Deadline of July 31st?
Paul Goldschmidt Trade Odds
| Will Paul Goldschmidt be traded by July 31st? | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yes | +250 |
| No | -400 |
Odds taken March 15.
The Cardinals’ Offseason Plan
St. Louis was slowly trying to be the powerhouse of the National League in late 2018. Sadly, their plan failed miserably and they might not even make it out of their division. Goldy is one of the best first basemen in the game today, no question. Their planned addition of other stars sort of fizzled out there though.
There was chatter of St. Louis being a possible landing spot for OF Bryce Harper and even slugging third baseman Manny Machado. The Cards decided to sit on their wallet though. They did add veteran pitcher Andrew Miller and promising young OF Drew Robinson, but that was basically it.
The All-In St. Louis Cardinals are at less than 50% to make the playoffs https://t.co/IAbsblFDvv
— P (@P_Funk36) March 15, 2019
The addition of Goldschmidt, a six-time all-star, four-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glove winner looked it was going to be the start of something special. Now, with just weeks remaining before Opening Day, the Cardinals are actually projected to finish worse than they did last season.
Will they buy or sell?
The Cards do have the luxury of not playing in the NL East. That division will be owned by the Philadelphia Phillies for the foreseeable future. In the Central though, their hopes live and die with the Milwaukee Brewers – last year’s division winner.
We all know what Milwaukee had in the tank, but with the additions of C Yasmani Grandal, OF Ben Gamel and prospect IF Cory Spangenberg, along with the re-signing of 3B Mike Moustakas, 2019 should be another dominant year. With that, you’ve got to figure a wild card berth would the Cards’ best bet, but that’s no sure thing either.
A look at the Baseball Prospectus' projections for the National League standings this year.
The projection holds that the Phillies, Brewers and Dodgers will win their divisions, with the Nationals and Cardinals finishing in the two Wild Card spots. pic.twitter.com/tt4pqnVPcp
— WegENT (@WegrynENT) March 6, 2019
Our prediction
It would be pretty hard to imagine St. Louis giving up on their best player so quickly on July 31st. However, between his age, the amount of money owed and just the sheer thought of what he could be asking for next season, it’s also a long shot that he’d stay in St. Louis after 2019.
With that said, with his adjusted salary of $15.5 million, it’d also be hard for another contender to fit him into their midseason plans too. The Cards seem to have tied their feet together, grabbed a cinder block and hopped in head first on this one. They’re more than likely living and dying by the price of Gold all year long.
Ryan is what you call a seasoned vet. It's been nearly 13 years and he has hosted three sports radio talk shows, two football television shows, two sports podcasts, released his first book in 2012, had his own ESPN E:60 documentary shot, and was the first inductee to ESPN's Hall of Fans.
