Paul Goldschmidt's struggles in 2024 revoked the Cardinals of this potential asset

There were question marks about Paul Goldschmidt's future with the St. Louis Cardinals entering the 2024 season, but at least the club was going to get draft pick compensation if he left, right?

Well...

There were voices crying out that Goldschmidt's demise offensively was coming, but no one saw him falling off as hard as he did. Not that Cardinals fans need to be reminded of how steep of a decline Goldschmidt had, but let's take a brief review together:

1. Goldschmidt finished the 2024 campaign with a .245/.302/.414 slash line, hitting 22 home runs and driving in 65 RBI in 154 games (101 wRC+). All of those numbers were career lows except for home runs.
2. Just two seasons prior, Goldschmidt won National League Most Valuable Player, posting a 175 wRC+ while slashing .317/.404/.578. While he took steps back in 2023, he was still 22% above league average, which is very valuable bat for a lineup.
3. Things were especially bad for Goldschmidt with runners in scoring position, where he ranked as one of the worst performers in all of baseball in those opportunities. Goldschmidt's 60 wRC+ with runners in scoring position was sixth-worst in all of baseball, and fans could feel his .203/.284/.280 slash line whenever the game found him in those spots.

Having just turned 37 in September, history would tell us that we are probably not going to see a huge resurgence from Goldschmidt in 2025 or beyond. He did have some encouraging batted ball metrics last season that can point to some positive regression coming (average exit velocity, barrel%, hard-hit%, xSLG, xwOBA, xBA), but his decline in bat speed, squared-up%, and BB% with a rise in Whiff%, Chase%, and K% don't bode well.

Yes, there will be a team this offseason that takes a chance on Goldschmidt in hopes that he can be a valuable performer next year. But no one in their right mind was going to sign him if he got a qualifying offer, and that is a huge loss for the Cardinals this offseason.

The Cardinals not receiving a compensation pick for Paul Goldschmidt is a painful result of his frustrating season

We've known for quite some time now that the Cardinals were not going to extend a qualifying offer to Paul Goldschmidt. Not only is he not worth the money anymore, but no team is going to forfeit draft capital to sign him away from St. Louis. Still, it's a reality that few expected the club to be in this offseason.

Two offseasons ago, the Cardinals forfeited their second-round pick to sign Willson Contreras. Last offseason, they did the same to bring in Sonny Gray. While those were fine risks to pay to bring in those talents, losing those pieces of draft capital when the club is retooling is not a great reality to be in. The silver lining of a Goldschmidt departure this offseason was supposed to be recouping a draft pick, but instead, the Cardinals get nothing in return for his services.

Who knows what kind of player the Cardinals would have been able to draft with that selection in the 2025 MLB Draft? That player could have been a bust, a trade asset, a future star, or a number of other outcomes. But nonetheless, that draft selection would have been a valuable asset going into this reset year.

Add it to the list of things that went wrong for the Cardinals this year. Hopefully this two-year stretch of reckoning will lead to an organizational resurgence soon.