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Paul Goldschmidt was a relative unknown coming out of The Woodlands HS out of Texas as the starting 3rd baseman on the nation's #1 High School Team. He was mostly overshadowed by his junior teammate Kyle Drabek, who was the only underclassmen chosen on the 2006 EA SPORTS All-American Team. They went on to win the State 5A Title behind a huge home run from our man, Paul Goldschmidt.
Backed by his senior year performance, Paul Goldschmidt signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Texas State for the 2007 season when the Dodgers selected him in the 49th round (1453rd overall) of the 2006 draft. He did not sign and then went on to star at Texas State, smashing the school records for home runs (36) and RBI (178).
After being drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 8th round of the 2009 draft, he immediately produced but was grouped into the lumbering 1st baseman because of his size (6'4, 240) and position. Jeff Moore of HardBallTimes had this to say about the prospect.
David Reiffer and Tom Belmont of Baseball Instinct likewise described him as a limited player.
The very respected John Sickels' of Minor League Ball only had this C grade of him in his 2010 Top Prospect Rankings, despite the huge power numbers.
Taking no mind to the doubters, Paul Goldschmidt continued his assault on minor league hitting with 42 doubles, 35 homers, and 108 rbi's while posting an OPS of .990. But the naysayers continued to concentrate on his strikeouts, and with good reason as he struck out a whopping 161 times in 599 PA. Keith Law in particular was very uncertain in his evaluation of him.
Pretty limited player, and tiny sample in AA. RT @aggiegriff2009: Any reason the Diamondbacks aren't moving Paul Goldschmidt into triple A?
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) May 3, 2011
Could be Steve Balboni. RT @gregheisler: @keithlaw goldschmidt ceiling?
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) April 18, 2011
Goldschmidt ain't Belt. "@linkmath: is it just me or is Kirk Gibson doing his best Bruce Bochy impression by playing Nady over Goldschmidt?"
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) August 13, 2011
Below average regular. Probably platoon/bench bat. "@kman7366: @keithlaw what is your opinion on Goldschmidt?"
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) August 13, 2011
Rapidly becoming overrated. RT @goldentodd: @keithlaw thoughts on goldschmidt?
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) September 4, 2011
Jason Grey, a graduate of the MLB Scouting Bureau and writer for ESPN, had this to say about the rising star in 2011.
(Just an FYI, this is Ryan Shealy.)
But even the worst critics change their mind every once in a while.
Goldschmidt - substantially improved his defense and even runs better "@conradkaczmarek: @keithlaw better defender than you thought or no?"
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) September 4, 2012
But what have the fans said? Well, take a look and pray your past self didn't say anything stupid.
Paul Goldschmidt's career wouldn't exist if if weren't for the #SFGiants. I swear, it's the only time the guy does ANYTHING offensively
— Misplaced Misfit (@BelieveInBCraw) September 3, 2012
And finally, with our fearless leader.
A star is right.