Diamondbacks got a steal in Paul Goldschmidt?

Paul Goldschmidt is creating quite a reputation for himself.

The D-backs’ first baseman is tied for fifth in the National League with a .333 batting average, second wiith 13 home runs and third with 35 RBI. His 1.049 OPS (on base+slugging percentage) tops the league, and he’s .414 on base percentage is fourth.

Though it’s early in the season, it appears the team has a star in its possession, and it does so at a very reasonable rate.

Goldschmidt signed a five-year, $32 million extension before the season began, and while it seemed like a solid deal for both sides at the time, it appears to be a steal for the team right now.

And according to CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman, who spoke to an agent, that’s exactly the case.

According to one competing agent, Goldschmidt left as much as $75 million on the table, although anything along those lines would take not only Goldschmidt taking off into a new echelon — he had 20 homers, 82 RBI and a .286 batting average his first full season in the big leagues last year — but a totally new power market, as well. Also, of course, Goldschmidt would have had to be willing to go year to year to maximize his take.

Of course, that could just be agent-speak, but if the 25-year-old keeps hitting like this, his words will very much ring true.

And who knows, maybe not having the pressure of contract negotiations has helped Goldschmidt play well. Regardless, a team that has never really had much consistency at first base will have some for a while.

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