TAMPA -- As much as his heart still swells with pride when he discusses playing with Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright and winning a National League Most Valuable Player Award in 2022, Paul Goldschmidt laments the struggles of the past two seasons that ultimately led to his painful exit from the Cardinals.
Had his power and productivity numbers been significantly better and had St. Louis not missed the playoffs in 2023 and ‘24, the now-37-year-old Goldschmidt might still be wearing the birds on the bat of the Cardinals instead of wearing the pinstripes of the Yankees. In many ways, it’s as if Goldschmidt’s emotions are battling one another as he adjusts to being in a lineup with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton instead of one with close friend Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras.
“We all know this is a part of the business and something like this could have happened,” Goldschmidt said on Wednesday before going 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the Yankees' 7-0 win over the Cardinals. “There definitely were some good times, and 2022 was special in so many ways, but last year was also the most disappointing year because I felt like we had a chance to make some noise and maybe win the whole thing.”
An improved finish to an otherwise forgettable 2024 season earned Goldschmidt a one-year contract with New York. By the start of this season, Goldschmidt will have played for the two winningest franchises in baseball in terms of World Series titles in the Cardinals and Yankees. Fitting in with his new teammates, Goldschmidt said, has been the easiest part of his transition because of his baseball ties to so many of New York’s veteran players.
“I’ve been friends with [Aaron] Judge, Stanton and I played on Team USA, DJ LeMahieu [and I] played against each other for a long time in the NL West, and I’ve faced guys like [Max] Fried, [Carlos] Rodón and [Gerrit] Cole for so long, and Jazz [Chisholm Jr.] was a D-backs Minor Leaguer,” said Goldschmidt, who noted that he plans to remain clean-shaven all season.
Goldschmidt said he’s kept in contact with several Cardinals players -- including Arenado, who made it known that he would prefer a trade to a contending team over sticking with the rebuilding St. Louis club in 2025. Once interested in potentially trading for Arenado, the Yankees recently informed the Cardinals that they are no longer seeking a deal for the 10-time Gold Glove winner, a source told MLB.com.
“I’ve obviously tried to give Nolan his space with whatever is going on there, but him and I are still very close friends, and we’ll stay in touch a long time,” Goldschmidt said. “I’ve talked to a few of the guys over there [with the Cardinals], and I think they’re going to have a great year.”
Goldschmidt had his greatest year in 2022, when he hit .317 with 35 homers and 115 RBIs. He led all of the National League in slugging (.578) and OPS (.982) while playing at a 77 percent clip better than the average player (177 OPS+). However, he oddly struggled down the stretch of that season, and his Cardinals were upset in the NL Wild Card Series by the upstart Phillies, losses that ended the careers of Pujols and Molina.
What followed were two seasons of mostly struggles from Goldschmidt, who saw his strikeouts go from 141 in 2022 to 161 in ‘23 and 173 in ‘24. His home run totals dropped to 25 in ‘23 and 22 last season, when he also registered a career low in RBIs (65) over a full season. His problems were even more magnified with runners in scoring position, where he hit just .203 and had only seven extra-base hits.
In a perfect world, Goldschmidt said he would have been given another season to try and right his wrongs. What if he had the opportunity to return to St. Louis and potentially finish his Cardinals career on a high note?
“I try to not live in hypotheticals, and whatever happened, happened and wherever I am I just tried to give everything I had,” said Goldschmidt, who had a double, an RBI and three strikeouts in his first two Spring Training games with the Yankees. “I did that in St. Louis and now that I’m here in New York.”
Predictably, Goldschmidt said he hasn’t thought much about the Yankees' trip to Busch Stadium on Aug. 15-17. Despite the Cardinals’ stated intentions to “reset” their roster around their young core, Goldschmidt thinks St. Louis has enough talent to remain competitive in 2025.
“I think they have great players and could surprise a lot of people,” he said. “So, whatever the narrative is outside the clubhouse, I’m sure they’re not paying attention to that.”