MLB Columnist Suggests Ex-Cardinals Slugger On Verge Of Regaining MVP Form

The St. Louis Cardinals have watched numerous players thrive after leaving the franchise over the last decade and it doesn't get any easier watching it unfold.

For instance, the Cardinals foolishly traded homegrown talent Tommy Edman to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer before earning the 2024 National League Championship Series MVP and emerging as one of the league's most prolific hitters this season -- batting .243 with 26 hits including eight home runs, 19 RBIS and a .798 OPS in 28 games played for the defending World Series champs.

Sadly, Edman isn't the only former St. Louis player who was moved on from over the past year and is having a resurgent season at the plate with his new team.

"But Paul Goldschmidt looks like he’s on the verge of regaining something close to MVP form, and Carlos Rodon may be getting acclimated to New York (Yankees) in year three," New York Post's Jon Heyman wrote Sunday when outlining how the Yankees can win the American League East this season.

Goldschmidt is batting a respectable .365 with 38 hits, nine extra-base hits including one home run, 10 RBIs and a .888 OPS in 28 games played for the Yankees in 2025.

Two years removed from winning the 2022 NL MVP award with St. Louis, Goldschmidt logged his worst-career offensive campaign with the Cardinals last season.

Unfortunately, Goldschmidt's declining performance from 2023-2024 led to him being forced to explore the free-agent market for the first time in his illustrious career last offseason, during which he landed a one-year, $12.5 million deal with the Yankees.

Although Goldschmidt's power is still in decline, he trails Yankees two-time AL MVP Aaron Judge by five hits -- ranking first and second for the most by any player in the league.

The 37-year-old batted .317 with 178 hits, 76 extra-base hits including 35 home runs, 115 RBIs and a .982 OPS throughout his 2022 MVP campaign.

Considering that Goldschmidt hasn't hit a home run since the Yankees' second game of the season on Mar. 29th, it's unlikely we'll see him reach near the 35 dingers he crushed with St. Louis in 2022, let alone the 22 he smashed last year. Still, he's making contact and proving to be a worthy offseason acquisition for the Bronx Bombers.