The St. Louis Cardinals are looking forward to a bounce-back campaign in 2024 after the usual playoff team faltered beyond belief in 2023. Last season, they scuffled to the tune of a 71-91 record, which was good for dead-last in the NL Central. The Cardinals still have a few talented players on their roster, one of them being star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, although the team will have to deal with his contract situation soon.
Goldschmidt's contract is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2024 season, and at 36 years of age, the Cardinals will have to think about acquiring a long-term replacement sooner or later. Nevertheless, the veteran first baseman is still playing at a high enough level that the team remains willing to sign him to a contract extension, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Goold wrote that the Cardinals' “preference is to sign” Paul Goldschmidt to an extension and keep him at first base. Alas, it all depends on how much Goldschmidt will ask for in his next contract. After all, it looks as if the Cardinals prefer to sign Goldschmidt to a lower annual salary than that in his current deal ($22 million), and as Goold pointed out, the CBA mandates that any extension the Cardinals offer the veteran first baseman start at a figure of $17.6 million.
Nothing still seems to be imminent in this regard, although this is to be expected from the Cardinals given their reported plans dating back to the middle of December. Back then, Goold already reported of the Cardinals' plan to offer Goldschmidt an extension, with the catch being that the two sides will begin negotiations once we get closer to the start of Spring Training in February.
It still stands to reason that the two sides can strike an agreement soon, especially when the Cardinals don't expect there to be any tension in negotiations.
In 2023, Paul Goldschmidt was one of the Cardinals' best players. In 687 plate appearances, the veteran first baseman slashed .268/.363/.447. while hitting 25 home runs and driving in 80 runs. Over the past few seasons, Goldschmidt has been remarkably consistent, tallying a total of 21.3 WAR (per Fangraphs) as a member of the Cardinals organization.
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