The St. Louis Cardinals are once again on the outside looking in as the postseason progresses. Despite posting a winning record, the team fell well short of October.
As such, the Cardinals are expected to rebuild and even cut some payroll in the process. This means that players such as Paul Goldschmidt will likely not be back.
Joe Tansey of Bleacher Report predicted that the veteran slugger would leave St. Louis for the San Francisco Giants.
"The Giants need an everyday first baseman and someone who can provide support in the middle of the order alongside [Matt] Chapman," Tansey wrote. "They could be an intriguing fit for Goldschmidt as they try to push their way back up the National League West hierarchy."
The Cardinals have only finished under .500 once since 2007, doing so in 2023 with a 71-91 finish. But even after improving their record in 2024 by 12 wins, it appears that changes may be on the way.
Goldschmidt struggled this season, hitting just .245 with a .716 OPS. St. Louis was hoping for him to return to his 2022 form when he was the National League MVP.
However, that didn't happen, and the team's offensive struggles were highlighted by his and Nolan Arenado's regression.
It's clear that the Cardinals are taking a step back from contention in 2025 and are going to focus more on their younger players.
If Goldschmidt does indeed leave, they can plug Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, Brendan Donovan, or Luken Baker in at first base.
It will be interesting to see how St. Louis handles the likely departure of their former MVP.
More MLB: Cardinals ace likely to be traded as organization enters rebuild
