The Chicago Cubs are about to enter a critical offseason that will determine the future direction of the franchise.
Coming off back-to-back 83-79 records and no improvement in the first season of the Craig Counsell era, Jed Hoyer will have his work cut out for him when it comes to figuring out how to get this team in a spot where it's a legitimate contender. There are names out there who can help Chicago, but an unavoidable reality of free agency is that not every deal is going to work out.
One of the faces of the franchise from the Cubs' biggest rival is going to become available with Cardinals legendary first baseman and 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt's 5-year deal he signed in 2019 coming to an end and the team not interested in bringing him back. The Cardinals look to be trying to trim payroll and potentially even begin a long and painful rebuild, a plan that a 37-year-old Goldschmidt obviously doesn't fit into. While seemingly improving your lineup and simultaneously weakening the lineup of a hated rival is certainly an intriguing prospect, Rich Eberwein of Cubbies Crib says that Goldschmidt is a player that the Cubs absolutely must avoid at all costs this winter due to numbers that are starting to plummet.
"Goldschmidt was that guy at one point in his career, but he isn't a long-term option given his age," Eberwein wrote. "The Cubs shouldn't gamble on Goldschmidt returning to form when they have a younger player who is trending in the right direction and a more attractive alternative available in [Pete] Alonso."
The simple fact of the matter is that it looks like time has caught up with Goldschmidt in short order after just two years ago, he played arguably the best season of his long and storied career. Goldschmidt's average over the last three years has gone from .317 to .268 to .245 while his RBI numbers have declined significantly as well from 115 to 80 to 65. OPS, OPS+, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage have also all trended similarly.
Goldschmidt is clearly still an everyday MLB player and is capable of helping any lineup, but the Cubs have more of an offensive need than he is capable of providing anymore at this point in his career.
