Cardinals Urged To Sign $65 Million Star To Replace Paul Goldschmidt

The St. Louis Cardinals may look different in the middle of the lineup in 2025.

Paul Goldschmidt has been a staple at first base and in the middle of the lineup for the Cardinals for years. He spent the last six seasons with the Cardinals after spending the first eight years of his big league career as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Goldschmidt will be a free agent and is expected to part ways with St. Louis this winter. It's unclear where he will go, but it has been hinted that the two sides will go in a different direction. Nothing is guaranteed at this point, but the most likely option will be Goldschmidt sadly wearing another team's jersey.

If he does leave, St. Louis will need to fill the spot at first base. There are internal options, but there will also be external options in free agency. Because of this, FanSided's Zach Pressnell urged the Cardinals to consider signing Diamondbacks slugger Christian Walker.

"There are some great options to replace him in free agency," Pressnell said. "Pete Alonso obviously comes to mind, as every team that needs a slugger is going to chase Alonso. But Christian Walker is also entering free agency, and he may be even better than Alonso as an overall baseball player.

"The 33-year-old Walker is routinely finishing in the top three in Gold Glove at first base. He has two Gold Gloves and he's in line to win another one this season. He also routinely puts up an OPS of .800, doing so in each of the last three seasons. Last year, Walker slashed .251/.335/.468 with 26 home runs and 26 doubles."

Walker is projected to get a deal worth $65 million across three seasons by Spotrac. This is expensive, but shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for St. Louis, even though it wants to trim payroll.