Is Paul Goldschmidt past his prime?

Dback Jon

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At this rate, he will never get a big contract. He looks lost at the plate. His Defense is bad.

He's not a team leader.
 

BC867

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At this rate, he will never get a big contract. He looks lost at the plate. His Defense is bad.

He's not a team leader.
If past his prime means he's reached his pinnacle, it was going to happen sometime. It always does.

The last month of last season, when Goldy slumped with the second hottest hitter in the League following him, gave a clue.

With many thanks to Goldy for what he's meant to this team, he doesn't deserve a big contract.

And we have a power hitting 1B waiting in the wings who deserves more than sitting on the bench and being called on to pinch hit once a week.

Whether it is aging or, as I've wondered, eye problems, I think it is obvious that his eye-hand coordination is involved in his decline. Even if not, age is age.

As far as team leader, Goldy's leadership has been by performance. Obviously his performance has slipped.
 

Praxis

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If you think Goldy is bad on defense, wait until you see Christian Walker. Not many good 6'0'' first basemen.
 

BC867

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I'll be darned. Steve just mentioned Walker, Minor League MVP, being stuck behind Goldy.

There's a coincidence. I'll take Steve's comment as Post #5. :)

I'd like to get a sampling of Walker's defense at 1B.

I don't understand why he wasn't given a chance to give Goldy a few rests at 1B.
 

Praxis

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Goldy is off to a slow start but he always puts in the work. He might be playing through injury from last season. He's definitely getting older but he's still a great player. I'd like to get another legit power bat to pair him with. Goldy is not a vocal guy but he has led by example here. Sometimes it is best to have those kind of leaders instead of guys who become distractions off the field.
 

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I'll be darned. Steve just mentioned Walker, Minor League MVP, being stuck behind Goldy.

There's a coincidence. I'll take Steve's comment as Post #5. :)

I'd like to get a sampling of Walker's defense at 1B.

I don't understand why he wasn't given a chance to give Goldy a few rests at 1B.

He is slow and can't play anywhere else despite being undersized.
 

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Once he breaks out of the slump he will be a handful as usual. He does it all and those players are hard to find. I just wish we had JD batting clean up who was able to cover for Goldy when he went cold.
 

BC867

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OK, I found Goldy's problem. He probably watched a replay of him heading into the dugout after scoring, saw his bald spot and said, "Uh oh, I'm getting old. :rolleyes:
 

82CardsGrad

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At this rate, he will never get a big contract. He looks lost at the plate. His Defense is bad.

He's not a team leader.

He only turns 31 this September. Has only had 6 full seasons in the majors... He's far from "past his prime." And, since he's been in the bigs, he's routinely been considered to be at the top-tier of defensive firstbasemen. And if you were to speak to his coaches and teammates, they would tell you he is an incredible leader.
He is off to an ugly start for sure...and man, he has looked horrific at the plate for a large % of his at-bats... But even when he is has been hot, he still had those at-bats where he looked completely lost. He's very much a "guesser" at the plate and if he's guessing wrong, it usually doesn't look too pretty...
As for the big contract - I can assure you doesn't lose even a second of sleep over the $$... It literally means nothing to him. He'll receive a very nice contract at some point in the next 6-12 months. I hope it's with the Dbacks - and so does he. But, it will come down to so many other dynamics... Can the team effectively off-load Greinke? Gotta keep Pollack. Gotta keep Corbin. Gotta extend Archie... Can't do all of that and keep both Greinke and Goldy.
 

DWKB

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Yes, he is obviously past his prime. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t still a very productive player. It just means he’s not the player he was at his peak.

This team does not need to offer him a jumbo contract, but they might do it anyways.
 

Shaggy

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He only turns 31 this September. Has only had 6 full seasons in the majors... He's far from "past his prime." And, since he's been in the bigs, he's routinely been considered to be at the top-tier of defensive firstbasemen. And if you were to speak to his coaches and teammates, they would tell you he is an incredible leader.
He is off to an ugly start for sure...and man, he has looked horrific at the plate for a large % of his at-bats... But even when he is has been hot, he still had those at-bats where he looked completely lost. He's very much a "guesser" at the plate and if he's guessing wrong, it usually doesn't look too pretty...
As for the big contract - I can assure you doesn't lose even a second of sleep over the $$... It literally means nothing to him. He'll receive a very nice contract at some point in the next 6-12 months. I hope it's with the Dbacks - and so does he. But, it will come down to so many other dynamics... Can the team effectively off-load Greinke? Gotta keep Pollack. Gotta keep Corbin. Gotta extend Archie... Can't do all of that and keep both Greinke and Goldy.

Corbin, Archie, and Pollock are important to this team. So is Goldy. If they can somehow get out of the $100 million still owed to Greinke, could they keep all of them?
 

82CardsGrad

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Corbin, Archie, and Pollock are important to this team. So is Goldy. If they can somehow get out of the $100 million still owed to Greinke, could they keep all of them?

Really depends on how much they would have to eat of Greinke’s remaining contract... gonna be very, very difficult to make it all work. The only caveat is that I know Goldy won’t “demand” a whacky deal.
 

Shaggy

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Really depends on how much they would have to eat of Greinke’s remaining contract... gonna be very, very difficult to make it all work. The only caveat is that I know Goldy won’t “demand” a whacky deal.

True. I'm sure he would rather stay here then go anywhere else, and I am sure the the Dbacks org will work with him.
 

82CardsGrad

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Yes, he is obviously past his prime. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t still a very productive player. It just means he’s not the player he was at his peak.

This team does not need to offer him a jumbo contract, but they might do it anyways.

You really can’t be so sure he’s “past his prime.” His numbers from last season wouldn’t suggest so (though he certainly did crash toward the latter portion of the season).
 

GatorAZ

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Corbin, Archie, and Pollock are important to this team. So is Goldy. If they can somehow get out of the $100 million still owed to Greinke, could they keep all of them?

Pollock might be most important (when healthy) but he’s not durable so they’re not extending him. He’ll most likely walk. If they flame out by July he’ll be traded.

I’m just not seeing Greinke getting moved with his deal... Not sure what happens with Corbin.
 

Azlen

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If Corbin keeps going like he has, he's going to get a huge contract. It's not often that a good pitcher under 30 becomes available. If they don't extend him within the next month or so then he'll be gone.
 

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