To no one’s surprise, the Cardinals are not making qualifying offers to any free agents

Before the 2024 season, it was a foregone conclusion that if Paul Goldschmidt reached free agency, the St. Louis Cardinals to make him a qualifying offer.

Well, free agency has begun and the Cardinals did no such thing. And no one should be surprised by that.

Goldschmidt joined Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Matt Carpenter, Keynan Middleton and Andrew Kittredge as free agents tonight, and while there has never been any doubt that the latter five did not receive qualifying offers, Goldschmidt’s pedigree as a player long pointed to it reality, but his struggles in the 2024 season washed those hopes away.

Had the Cardinals tagged any of their free agents with a qualifying offer, that player would have had until 16 EST on Nov. 19 to accept or reject the one-year offer of $21.05 million, which is the average of MLB’s top 125 salaries. It is rare for a player to accept the qualifying offer as it is most often given to players who are likely to reject it. If a team ends up signing that player, the Cardinals would have received a draft pick as compensation for losing that player.

While 13 players received qualifying offers across the league this year, Goldschmidt’s .245/.302/.414 slash line from 2024 ensured he wouldn’t join that mix. Finishing exactly league average with a 100 wRC+, Goldschmidt was actually worse than that for sustained stretches, but was able to see his overall numbers rise slightly thanks to a few random hot streaks throughout the season.

The Cardinals haven’t ruled out a reunion with Goldschmidt, but this is it widely expected that he’ll be playing somewhere else in 2025. Not only are the Cardinals cutting payroll and looking to prioritize playing time for young talent in 2025, but Goldschmidt himself likely wants to grab a true contender. Still, there are scenarios out there where Goldschmidt could return.

For now, Goldschmidt and the Cardinals’ other five free agents are free to negotiate with teams around the league without strings attached due to a qualifying offer. The Cardinals are unlikely to be that active in free agency this offseason and have already publicly stated that they will not pursue players with a qualifying offer attached to them.