The Arizona Diamondbacks have made it known to teams that they are willing to trade Paul Goldschmidt this winter, and there has been no shortage of interest in the star first baseman.
According to Jayson Stark of The Athletic, the Philadelphia Phillies engaged the D-Backs in discussions regarding Goldschmidt recently. They are willing to send a package of prospects to Arizona, but the Diamondbacks apparently do not want to take on 32-year-old Carlos Santana and the nearly $35 million he is owed over the next two seasons.
You can add the #Phillies to the list of teams that spoke with the #Diamondbacks about Paul Goldschmidt.
A source says the teams discussed a package that would have included Zach Eflin & several young players. But the deal fell apart when the Phillies tried to add Carlos Santana
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 26, 2018
Ken Rosenthal reported last week that the Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals have also had meaningful discussions with the Diamondbacks about Goldschmidt, so we could be headed for a bidding war.
Goldschmidt, 31, batted .290/.389/.533 last season with 35 doubles and 33 home runs. He is a .299 hitter with a .931 OPS for his career, but he is set to make $14.5 million in his final season of arbitration before becoming a free agent after the 2019 season.
The Phillies are said to be looking to spend big this offseason, and they are one of the teams interested in both Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. However, they are reportedly not going to wait around for the two top free agents to make up their minds before looking into other big moves, so it makes sense that they are kicking the tires on Goldschmidt.
