Why the SF Giants should not pursue arch nemesis in free agency

With first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the long-time tormentor of the SF Giants, likely to be a free agent this offseason, there are some who think the Giants should pursue him. This would be a mistake by the Giants.

Goldschmidt is set to hit the market after 6 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Before that he spent 8 seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has been remarkably consistent staying on the field in his career. He played in 150 games or more in every season he spent with the Cardinals excluding the shortened 2020 season.

The SF Giants signing Paul Goldschmidt would not make sense

He was solid in his time with the Cardinals even though he only received one All-Star nod while with St. Louis whereas he had 6 with the Diamondbacks. 2022 was a great year for him as he hit .317/.404/.578 with 25 home runs and 115 RBI.

His numbers have declined the last two seasons though. 2024 was one of the worst years of his career as he hit .245/.302/.414 with 22 home runs and 65 RBI. It is ironic that in one of his worst years he still would have been one of the best hitters on the Giants, but that does not mean signing him makes sense.

Goldschmidt is now 37 years old. He definitely still has a few years left in the tank but he is not worth the money he will command.

Plus, signing him would potentially block top prospect Bryce Eldridge whose primary position is first base. The Giants need to get younger and develop their prospects more and signing Goldschmidt would run counter to that.

The only scenario in which he makes sense on the 2025 Giants is if the Giants signed him to a one-year deal where he could serve as a first baseman and designated hitter while also acting as a mentor to Eldridge. It does not seem likely that Goldschmidt would want this sort of deal or situation though. He probably wants a multi-year deal that takes him to his age 40 season so he can retire afterward.

Anything more than a one-year deal would block Eldridge and create complications later on. It would be nice to have Goldschmidt on the Giants just so he would stop tormenting them for a bit, but not at the expense of player development.

Let's hope he ends up somewhere in the American League so he can only torch the Giants once a year.