All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals are close to an agreement on a five-year extension worth approximately $130 million, ESPN's Jeff Passan reports on Thursday.
Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals are finalizing a five-year contract extension worth around $130 million, a source familiar with the deal tells ESPN. Deal will run through the 2024 season. @Ken_Rosenthal and @dgoold were on the news first.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 21, 2019
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch provided more details on the deal:
The Cardinals traded for Goldschmidt in December with just one year remaining on his deal, and locking up Goldschmidt to a long-term deal had been a goal for the Cards. The deal keeps Goldschmidt in an organization that should be able to put a quality lineup around him for the next several years.
Goldschmidt, 31, is, without a doubt, one of the best first basemen in baseball -- and has been throughout his career. Here's the numbers he posted last season:
He's hit .297/.398/.532 (145 OPS+) with 209 home runs and a 40.3 bWAR over his eight seasons in the majors. Goldschmidt has been an All-Star every year since 2013, finished three times in the top three in the MVP balloting, has won four Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves, all while playing at least 155 games in five of the last six seasons.
Spring training is always a busy time for contract extensions. In recent weeks Blake Snell, Nolan Arenado, Alex Bregman, Max Kepler, Aaron Nola, Jorge Polanco, Luis Severino, and others signed multiyear contracts that cover free agent seasons. Even Eloy Jimenez, who has yet to play in the major leagues, has reportedly received a six-year contract extension from the Chicago White Sox.
