Should The Diamondbacks Trade Paul Goldschmidt?

Just one off-season ago the Arizona Diamondbacks made what could go down as one of the worst baseball trades in recent memory. One year after having the worst record in baseball Arizona thought they were ready to compete so they sent their number one overall pick, Dansby Swanson, to the Atlanta Braves for Shelby Miller. This was a questionable move at the time that looks even worse now that Miller had to spend part of 2016 in AAA due to ineffectiveness. Swanson, meanwhile, hit .302 with a .361 OBP in 38 games in the majors last year. He came in ranked third on Baseball America's list of Top 100 Prospects this past weekend.

Making matters worse is the team's other big off-season move from last winter. Arizona gave Zack Greinke a six year, $206.5 million contract, which comes out to the highest average salary ever awarded to a starting pitcher (over $34 million). Regardless of whether to not Arizona decides to rebuild after three straight sub .500 seasons, the Greinke contract is unmovable. This means that if the D'Backs want to expedite the rebuilding process they will have to consider trading franchise player Paul Goldschmidt. 

For years Goldschmidt has been one of baseball's best kept secrets outside of fantasy players. Goldy has been a first round fantasy pick the past few seasons but since he plays in a small market and the Diamondbacks suck he doesn't get much national attention. This is unfair since his stats and fantasy production show that he is one of, if not the best, first basemen in the game. Over the past four years he has been an all star in every season and has twice finished second in the MVP voting. In addition to the homers, batting average, and high on base percentage Goldschmidt is a great baserunner for a first baseman. He stole 32 bases in 2016.

One of the biggest reasons for why Arizona wouldn't trade him is his contract. He is set to earn just over $33 million during the next three seasons if the D'Backs exercise his 2019 club option. For a player of Goldschmidt's caliber this is an absolute steal. The again, this contract could help result in a much bigger haul of prospects if a trade were to happen. The best blueprint for Arizona to follow would be what the White Sox did when they traded Chris Sale this winter. Similar to the D'Backs, the White Sox aren't going to compete in the next few years and Sale is set to earn a similar amount of money to Goldy. So Chicago sent him to Boston for Baseball America's second rated prospect, 32nd rated prospect, and two others. There is no question that the team friendly contract of Sale led to a bigger return.

2017 will mark the beginning of a new era in Arizona. The team has a new General Manager in Mike Hazen and a new manager in Torey Lovullo. The old regime left a lot of work to be done, as the franchise has just one player ranked among BA's Top 100 prospects (and he was 88th). Hazen has said he wants to evaluate the roster for the beginning part of the season before making any big moves, which is the right decision by a new GM. However, it's unlikely the Diamondbacks are close to contention come the All-Star break. So whether it's at the trade deadline or next off-season expect baseball's best first baseman to be at the center of the trade market.