D-Backs Sign Paul Goldschmidt to Extension

The Arizona Diamondbacks and 1B Paul Goldschmidt have agreed to a five year extension reportedly worth a total of $32 mil. Goldschmidt was set to be under team control until 2017 so this deal buys out his arbitration years and his first year of free agency. The Diamondbacks drafted Goldschmidt in the 8th round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of Texas State-San Marcos. He would later become the first Texas State-San Marcos player to reach the big league level. He had previously been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 49th round of the 2006 MLB Draft but chose to attend college rather than sign.

After the extension was announced, Goldschmidt had the following to say:

"“This is the only place I wanted to be so I’m thrilled to know that I will be here long term. I can’t wait for the season to start, and I hope that we can bring another World Championship to the fans of Arizona.”"

The 25 year old power hitter raked during parts of three seasons in the minor leagues from 2009 – 2011. He continued that during his first full season at the MLB level hitting a nice 286/.359/.490 with 20 homers and 83 RBI. He made his major league debut on 8/11/11 to assist the Diamondbacks with their playoff push and at the time of his call up, was leading the minor leagues in home runs with 30. During the 2011 NLDS vs the Milwaukee Brewers, Goldschmidt became just the third rookie in MLB history to hit a post season grand slam when he did so in Game 2.

Goldschmidt found his place in Diamondbacks history books last year as his 43 doubles and .497 slugging percentage were club records. He figures to improve on all of his rookie numbers just his second full season and will likely make the Diamondbacks look very wise by locking him up now rather than waiting a few years when his price tag and market value will definitely soar above this deal.