Lost in the shuffle of all of the nonsensical contract extensions that were signed through Major League Baseball was the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Paul Goldschmidt agreed to a contract extension of their own. This one may actually pan out to be the best signing of the day, if not the most rational.
Goldschmidt and the Diamondbacks agreed to a five-year contract extension that will pay him $32 million. The deal also carries a club option for 2019, worth $14.5 million. This an interesting signing, on a couple of different levels, but it could also pan out to be a brilliant one for Kevin Towers and the Diamondbacks.
Drafted in 2009, last season was Goldschmidt's first full season at the big league level. He put up some very nice numbers in 587 plate appearances last year. He finished with a slash line of .286/.359/.490/.850 and 26 home runs, as well knocking in 82 runs. Don't sleep on those 18 swipes he added, either.
He's not slouch with the glove, either. He has a .996 fielding percentage for his career, with only seven errors last season.
Part of what makes this deal so intriguing is that it hasn't been done before for a player with such limited service time. Having played in 48 games in 2011, Goldschmidt has less than two, but more than one year of service time. The $6.4 million that Goldschmidt is going to cost annually is the largest amount in history for a position player with that length of service time.
At the same time, it isn't difficult to see why the Diamondbacks wanted to get Goldschmidt locked up now, rather than wait. This is a guy who has the potential to be among the elite first basemen in the game, very soon. The fact that they were able to sign him to this type of deal now means that he could be a tremendous bargain for them, making this the best deal of the extension bonanza that took place on Friday.
