Revisiting the Cardinals' trade for Paul Goldschmidt

In early December of 2018, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt from the Arizona Diamondbacks for a collection of young players. Among the return was Luke Weaver, a former starting pitcher who just finished the 2018 season with a 4.95 ERA in 136.1 innings. At the time, the trade seemed like it favored the Cardinals heavily. That has remained true, but Weaver himself has made himself quite valuable.

There are two reasons why I wanted to revisit this trade. First, Paul Goldschmidt's time in St. Louis is likely over now that his contract extension has expired. In total, he spent six seasons in St. Louis. Goldy accumulated 23.2 bWAR during his time with the Cardinals, he won the National League MVP award in 2022, he received one Gold Glove award and one Silver Slugger award, and he attended the All-Star game in 2022. All in all, the trade for Paul Goldschmidt was a win for the St. Louis Cardinals.

The second reason this trade is relevant again would be Luke Weaver's accomplishments as a reliever this year -- specifically this postseason -- for the New York Yankees.

Prior to signing a contract this past offseason to stay in New York for two more years, Weaver struggled to be a viable pitcher in baseball. He made a total of just 37 starts across three seasons with the Diamondbacks, and he finished his time there with a 4.45 ERA. He was a fine back-end starting pitcher, but nothing more.

After playing in Arizona, he played for the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, and Seattle Mariners without posting an ERA less than 5.59 for any of those teams. Toward the end of the 2023 season, the Yankees made a waiver claim on Weaver, and he made three starts for them.

This year, Luke Weaver has cemented himself as one of the game's best relievers. In 62 appearances and 84 innings during the regular season, he posted a 2.89 ERA, 3.33 FIP, and a 0.929 WHIP. He recorded four saves, and toward the end of the season, Weaver became the Yankees' best high-leverage reliever.

He has continued that success into the postseason where he has a 3.33 ERA. He's allowed two home runs in his last two games, though, one of which was quite costly to Jhonkensy Noel to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday night.

While the Cardinals are still notable winners of that trade, Luke Weaver's ascension as a quality high-leverage reliever has tipped the scales only slightly. It's been great as a Cardinals fan to see a former player who struggled for so long to finally see consistent success.