Since making his major league debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 1, 2011, 32-year-old first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has been an absolute Dodger killer. We’re talking a career .302 batting average, a .376 on-base percentage, a .551 slugging percentage, for a ridiculous .927 OPS against them. Along the way he hit 31 home runs and 31 doubles, while driving in 98 runs. Again, we’re talking about one guy here against only the Dodgers.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers received the best news of the 2018-2019 off-season thus far. They and the entire baseball world learned that Goldy, as Goldschmidt is affectionately known, had been traded from the Dbacks to the St. Louis Cardinals … as in the St. Louis Cardinals that are not in the National League West Division.

To put it succinctly, instead of having to face the perennial Dodger killer 19 times during the upcoming 2019 regular season, the Dodgers will only have to face him seven times.

This is just one of the 31 home runs that Goldschmidt hit off of Dodgers pitchers over his eight seasons with the Dbacks – this one off of former Dodger Chris Hatcher on April 12, 2016.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

Just to be clear, it’s not that Dodger fans – or anyone else for that matter – dislike the extremely popular Wilmington, Delaware native and Dbacks eighth round draft pick in 2009 out of Texas State University (after he declined to sign with the Dodgers in 2006 as their 49th round draft pick), it’s just that he is that good.

How good, you ask?

How about a career slash-line of .297 / .398 / .532 for a career OPS of .930, with 209 home runs, 267 doubles, 19 triples, and 710 career RBI. He is a six-time All-Star, a four-time Silver Slugger, a three-time Gold Glove first baseman, and has finished second in the National League MVP voting twice and third once.

Yeah, he is that good.

“Certainly it’s a bittersweet decision on our part,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen told reporters shortly after news of the trade broke. “I don’t think I could overestimate the impact Paul has had on this franchise, this team, the organization and the community.

“It was certainly a difficult decision just going through this process,” Hazen added. “He was arguably the best player in the National League.”

In exchange for Goldschmidt, the Dbacks received what many consider to be a strong package from the Cardinals that includes catcher Carson Kelly, starting pitcher Luke Weaver, minor-league infielder Andrew Young, plus a competitive-balance draft pick. That being said, not everyone sees it this way, including one unnamed executive within the Dbacks organization:

Obviously, it’s not just the Dodgers who will benefit from Goldschmidt leaving the NL West. Regardless of how well he is loved and respected by everyone in the game as “America’s First Baseman” (his other nickname), you can bet that the Rockies, Giants, Padres, and even the Dbacks themselves aren’t too terribly upset that they will now face Goldy fewer times in 2019, and hopefully beyond.

Now, if the Dbacks can only get rid of that Zack Greinke fellow … hopefully to another division or league, of course.

Play Ball!