D-backs CEO Derrick Hall: Paul Goldschmidt is not untouchable

Despite being in first place in the National League West for 125 days this season, including the first of September, the Arizona Diamondbacks suffered a collapse of epic proportions.

Now, as they near the offseason instead of the postseason, the front office has a vital decision to make:

Is it time to blow up the team and start fresh with a renewed farm system? Or should the team that looked like a cinch for October ball push for the playoffs again?

Part of their answer will come from the decision the front office makes with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, whose contract is set to expire following next season. D-backs president and CEO Derrick Hall was asked about the team’s willingness to part with their star on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Doug and Wolf Show on Thursday.

Doug Franz: “If they come to you and say, ‘We got this deal for Goldy,’ do you say ‘(Expletive) no,’ or do you say, you know, you’ll listen to anything?”

Hall laughed at the phrasing of the question as he answered.

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ll listen to anything for sure,” Hall said. “And I’m looking forward to that. (The front office staff) is meeting each and every day, as you can imagine, and then (managing general partner Ken Kendrick) and I will sit down with them and listen to the scenarios and take their advice on which way we all want to go.”

Goldschmidt declined to comment when asked if there were discussions of contract extensions during the 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Burns and Gambo Show on Tuesday.

He did, however, say that he enjoys playing in Arizona.

“I love it here, I think everyone knows that,” he said. “I haven’t really thought too far about it. Just especially with this year, all the focus has just been take it day by day … and not live in the past or look toward the future because any of that stuff can just be a distraction.”

There’s no dire need for Arizona to trade Goldschmidt, but if center fielder A.J. Pollock and pitcher Patrick Corbin depart in free agency, the D-backs might not think they’ll be able to compete with the current roster.

Trading Goldschmidt would help the once-depleted farm system continue to grow and get some money off the salary books, which was highest in franchise history in 2018.

“Is the window this year, does it close after this year?” Hall asked. “Not necessarily. So we have to decide. If those guys want to be here, there’s ways to keep them here. We would love to keep everybody that we had on the roster this year, but we also know we need to make some adjustments to take it to the next level.”

When it comes to making offseason decisions regarding free agents, Goldschmidt, and Zack Greinke’s $34.5 million contract, the team will keep in mind the parts of the past two seasons when the D-backs looked good.

At the peak, it was among the top teams in the National League.

“It’s going to be fun analyzing this season,” Hall said. “As we know, it was not a terrible season. To be in first place almost the entire season, that drop-off was what really killed all of us and kicked in the gut.

“But there was a lot of good that happened this year.”

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