Arizona Diamondbacks: Paul Goldschmidt Toast (Of Town) In St. Louis
By TC Zencka
The Arizona Diamondbacks traded Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals for three players and a pick in June’s draft.
When the Arizona Diamondbacks traded Paul Goldschmidt to the St. Louis Cardinals, the National League changed shape. Simply, the Cardinals are better than they were before and the Diamondbacks are, wait for it, worse.
The Cardinals now employ an uncommonly reliable offensive duo in Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter. That bodes well for their future outlook on this trade.
Let me be the first to remind St. Louis of the theoretical perils behind being on the superstar-acquiring end of a deal like this.
Arizona gave this kind of deal a go a couple years ago when they acquired then-ace of the Atlanta Braves, Shelby Miller. It was a trainwreck for the Diamondbacks, who non-rendered Miller just last week rather than pay him the paltry sum of $4.9MM.
The package the Braves received set the table for their current success. Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte added to an already robust collection of young talent to propel the Braves to earlier-than-expect contention in 2017 and a division title last year. So, you know, there’s always a chance this backfires.