Reports: Cardinals expected to part ways with Paul Goldschmidt this offseason

In a move that has become increasingly obvious over the last few months, the St. Louis Cardinals are expected to move on from first baseman Paul Goldschmidt this offseason.

Katie Woo of The Athletic (subscription required) is the latest to report this, with multiple league sources telling her the Cardinals do not intend to resign the 2022 National League Most Valuable Player. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (subscription required) recently called the odds a "50/50 coin flip" of Goldschmidt returning in his weekly chat.

It's been a really disappointing final season for Goldschmidt in St. Louis, as the 37-year-old entered Sunday's season finale slashing .245/.301/.412 with 22 home runs in 153 at-bats, posting a 1.1 fWAR and 99 wRC+ in the process. The Cardinals kept hoping as the season went on that Goldschmidt would find his footing again, and while he looked better at times, he couldn't manage to sustain that success.

While Goldschmidt did secure an MVP during his time with the Cardinals, the club lacked the team success you would have hoped for when having a future Hall of Famer like Goldschmidt on the roster in his prime. Over the course of his six seasons in St. Louis, Goldschmidt posted a .278/.360/.483 slash line with 153 home runs and 710 RBI, good for a 130 OPS+ in 8290 plate appearances. Oddly enough, he only collected one All-Star appearance, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger as a Cardinal, but he was consistently in the top of voting for all of those.

The Cardinals made it to the NLCS in Goldschmidt's first year with the Cardinals in 2019 but were swept by the Washington Nationals. Since then, the Cardinals made the playoffs three times, winning just one playoff game over that stretch.

While Goldschmidt was highly productive as a player, he was also a true representative of Cardinal baseball off the field. He was an excellent member of the St. Louis community and is someone who not only played the game the right way but cared about those around him off the field.

As the Cardinals turn the page on the John Mozeliak era of leadership and transition into a new front office and way of doing things, it only made sense to let someone like Goldschmidt go in order to embrace a new era of baseball. I have no doubt that Goldschmidt will find a home somewhere else this offseason with a contender.

Goldschmidt is a surefire Cardinal Hall of Famer and is likely to be inducted into Cooperstown as well.

Thank you, Paul Goldschmidt, for everything you provided in St. Louis. Best of luck in the next stage of your career!