Have We Wasted Goldschmidt & Arenado’s Good Years?

[gscottar]

Part of this Goldy discussion is that we have all been shell shocked and conditioned to assume that most things associated with the Cardinals these days are going to end up as the worst case imaginable, and justifiably so unfortunately.

[1toughdominican]

Shell shocked would be a good term. I’ll never forget the thousand yard stare that Roenicke displayed from the top step of the Brewer dugout at Miller Park during the 6th and final game of the ’11 NLCS.

[1toughdominican]

Very similar concerning the OPS number yes, but concerning similar production I’d have to say no. In my view, Nootbar is an entirely different type of bat than either Goldschmidt, Arenado or Gorman. As for a possible trade, I’d have to guess Gorman would attract much more attention than Nootbarr and I don’t think they’d be willing to part with either Goldschmidt or Arenado for at least the amount of time it would take for them to again tank before the trade deadline in ’24, which is a genuine possibility.

[W Guthrie]

Goldy is the best defensive 1st baseman st.louis has had for 50 years. Better than hernandez and YES he has been wasted.

[1toughdominican]

I’m only 65 years old, but in my view, Keith Hernandez was the greatest fielding 1B’man of all time. He eliminated the possiblity of a sac-bunt at a time when pitchers were still required to enter the box. He’d simply turn a sac-bunt attempt into a GIDP, so opposing managers required their pitchers to swing the bat whenever Hernandez was manned up at 1B. He also added a RF’ers arm to the IF in the sense of both strength and accuracy. And he not only picked it like no one else at the right corner of the IF, but also made it look easy. Not even the 11 consecutive GG’s illustrate how good he was with the mitt. You had to have seen him play to know how great he was with the glove over on the right corner of the IF. Goldy’s real good, but he’s got a long way to go to eclipse Hernandez at 1B.

[Brian Walton]

Welcome, W Guthrie. I hope you stay around and comment further, but on this point, I agree with 1tough. Though both are excellent, Goldy is a better hitter, but Keith was a better defender.

[1toughdominican]

Yeah, I’ll take Goldschmidt’s bat, but I don’t think Hernandez receives near enough credit for his offensive prowess particularly in high leverge PA’s. While with the Redbirds he won a NL MVP award, won a NL batting title, almost always made contact, and had what I believe was the most important base hit in the ’82 WS coming late in the 7th game that pushed across 2 Cardinal runs to tie the score. However, I really noticed what a pain in the backside he could be as a hitter after he was traded to the Mets. In ’85 and ’86 he seemed like he could not only serve and loft the baseball over the left side into LF for a base hit almost at will when facing a tough LHP’er even when he was down in the count, but could also turn on any RH’ed pitcher and drive the baseball for an extra base hit or even a HR. And he not only collected 83 RBI’s for a Met’s team that won 108 games and a WS Championship in ’86, but he also led that team in runs scored with 94 and led the NL that season with that same total of 94 BB’s. I’d say that if you asked any Met’s fan they would tell you that he was undoubtedly the MVP on that very good ’86 team. At any rate, I’ll take Goldy’s bat, but not by much at all.

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