Quiet but commanding, reserved yet respected, Paul Goldschmidt wasn’t always the most vocal player in the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse.
He didn’t have to be. His actions spoke for him.
Throughout his six-year tenure in St. Louis, Goldschmidt was lauded by his teammates more for his character than his notable accomplishments. That’s saying something given the various accolades he earned as a Cardinal. His stay included four postseason appearances, a National League Championship Series berth in 2019, a Gold Glove in 2021 and the National League Most Valuable Player award in 2022.
Though expected, Goldschmidt’s time in St. Louis officially came to an end Saturday. League sources confirmed to The Athletic the 37-year-old’s agreement on a one-year, $12.5 million deal with the New York Yankees. The Cardinals informed Goldschmidt — who was set to become a free agent for the first time in his career — that they would not bring him back in 2025, citing the organization’s preference to lower payroll and focus on player development.
Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge
2022 MVPs ➡️ 2025 teammates pic.twitter.com/4gVN79TGcI
— MLB (@MLB) December 21, 2024
It’s a bittersweet end for both parties. Though there’s no denying what Goldschmidt accomplished in St. Louis, there is the recognition that the team fell short of its ultimate goal when they traded for the first baseman ahead of the 2019 season. The Cardinals won the division in Goldschmidt’s first year with the organization, but were swept by the Washington Nationals — the eventual World Series champions — in the NLCS. The Cardinals made the postseason the next three years but won just one of those six games. In Goldschmidt’s final two seasons, the Cardinals missed the postseason entirely.
That reality weighed heavily on Goldschmidt during the final week of the 2024 season. Ironically, his best personal season is the one that haunts him the most.
“Thinking back to 2022, I really thought we had a good chance,” Goldschmidt said to The Athletic in late September. “As great as it was individually and as a team, I would say that was probably the most disappointing year of my career as well. The way it ended, I felt like that was such a great chance. If we could’ve gone on a run in the playoffs, we had a chance to win it all.”
The Cardinals division title in 2022 was thought to be the beginning of a long playoff run. Goldschmidt and teammate Nolan Arenado were MVP candidates. Albert Pujols surged in the second half of the year, hammering his 700th career home run en route to winning the National League Comeback Player of the Year award. Pujols and Yadier Molina were playing in their final seasons.
But one ill-fated ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 of the wild-card series doomed them all, and the Cardinals were bounced out of the playoffs after the first round. Goldschmidt went 0 for 7 with four strikeouts in the two-game sweep.
“That one I probably took the hardest,” Goldschmidt said. “Even though now, you’re going to look at it on paper two years later and say ‘Oh, that was such an amazing year.’ And there were some great memories, Albert, myself probably my best individual year. It’s kind of ironic that was also the most disappointing.”
Things spiraled for the Cardinals from there. Goldschmidt was no exception. His 2024 season was the worst of his 14-year career, and he took responsibility for another missed playoffs.
“It’s frustrating, disappointing, whatever negative emotion, looking back and knowing a percentage of this is my fault,” Goldschmidt said during the Cardinals’ final homestand. “The way I played for a large majority of the season, I’m going to look back and feel like if I could have played better the first four or five months, maybe we would’ve won some of those games.
“This is probably the worst I’ve performed on the field in my career. That was disappointing, a good bit of that burden was on me. If I could’ve played how I believe I’m capable of playing, we could’ve won more games and maybe this might have turned out differently.”
While it’s natural for tenures to be evaluated by on-field successes, that shouldn’t diminish Goldschmidt’s work behind the scenes. He and his wife Amy regularly held charity events in St. Louis, and both were advocates for multiple foundations throughout the region. Goldschmidt was also the Cardinals’ nominee for MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award in 2024.
We are proud to celebrate Paul Goldschmidt as our nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award.
In honor of the late humanitarian, Major League Baseball will once again bestow the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award to the player who best represents the game of baseball through… pic.twitter.com/FlYpPcimfo
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 17, 2024
Goldschmidt will be missed throughout the organization, with teammates, coaches and executives alike praising him for his professionalism, regardless of performance. His last year in St. Louis fell far short of his hopes and expectations. But true to the standard he has set for years, he was accountable until the very end.
“There are no excuses,” Goldschmidt said at the end of the season. “That’s the truth. I wish (the results) were different, but you can’t go back and change that.
“I have always tried to show up, play hard and try to help us win and do the best I could, even though it wasn’t nearly good enough for us this year.”
(Photo of Paul Goldschmidt from 2022: Gregory Fisher / USA Today)
