Rumors continue to swirl that Astros could make a play for aging former MVP

At or near the top of the Houston Astros' to-do list this offseason is to figure out who is going to play first base going forward. There is already chatter that the Astros could look at Zach Dezenzo as an internal option, and Pete Alonso is going to be at the top of fans' wishlists as long as he is actually available. However, one name that has also been floated as an option for Houston has been likely free agent Paul Goldschmidt.

Ever since Goldschmidt's lack of a future with the Cardinals was reported, there have been no shortage of people that have connected the Astros as a landing spot for him. Most of that is just "Astros need first baseman, Goldschmidt is first baseman" stuff, especially this early on in the process, but the rumbles have been widespread.

That continues to be the case, as St. Louis beat writer Derrick Goold jumped into the fray this week by floating the Astros as an option for Goldschmidt this offseason.

Paul Goldschmidt to the Astros chatter continues, but should be taken with a grain of salt

While it is noteworthy that a Cardinals beat writer connected the dots here, as there is a chance Goold is at least somewhat familiar with Goldschmidt's thinking, caution should still be exercised. The Astros don't have a ton of money to play with this offseason, and while Goldschmidt isn't the player he once was, he isn't going to play for peanuts despite growing up an Astros fan.

There is also a philosophical problem with Houston actually targeting Goldschmidt. The Astros are still dealing with the fallout from their ill-advised signing of Jose Abreu right now. Assuming they are willing to push their chips in on a first baseman, betting on another aging star that is trending sharply downward after that experience seems to be incredibly dubious, and some Astros fans seem to agree.

Ultimately, this all comes down to cost, and whether the Astros think they could extract real value out of Goldschmidt. If his contract demands are very reasonable and Houston sees adjustments that can be made to allow Goldschmidt to be productive again, then sure. However, the more likely scenario here is that all of these rumors are early offseason lazy projections that don't have much basis in the Astros front office's actual thinking.

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