The Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $12.5MM cope with Paul Goldschmidt. Jack Curry of YES Community was the primary to report that the 2 sides have been in settlement, whereas Bob Nightengale of USA Right now added the greenback worth of the contract for the Excel Sports activities Administration consumer. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com notes that it’s a straight one-year contract with none choices hooked up.
Nightengale describes the Yankees’ pursuit of Goldschmidt this week as aggressive, although he notes they have been additionally in talks with Christian Walker earlier than he signed with the Astros. Carlos Santana was one other first baseman New York reportedly thought of. The Yankees had additionally been linked to Pete Alonso earlier within the offseason, however Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Thursday that they have been “more and more seemingly” to go for a inexpensive first base signing. Certainly, Goldschmidt’s $12.5MM wage is nicely under the three-year, $60MM assure Walker obtained from Houston and the five-year, $125MM deal MLBTR predicted for Alonso. It’s additionally under the one-year, $15MM pact we predicted for Goldschmidt once we ranked him at no. 35 on our Prime 50 Free Brokers listing.
Goldschmidt, 37, was a free agent for the primary time in his profession. Drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2009, he made his large league debut with Arizona in 2011. After a powerful begin to his MLB profession, he signed an extension with the D-backs that saved him beneath workforce management via the 2019 season. Upon being traded to the Cardinals in 2019, he signed one other extension that ran via 2024. Via these years with Arizona and St. Louis, Goldschmidt was among the finest gamers in baseball. He made seven All-Star groups, received 5 Silver Sluggers, and earned NL MVP honors in 2022. Over 1928 profession video games, he has slashed .289/.381/.510 with 362 residence runs and a 139 wRC+.
Since his MVP season in 2022, Goldschmidt has taken a number of steps again. His .810 OPS and 122 wRC+ in 2023 have been extra good than nice, whereas his .716 OPS and 100 wRC+ in 2024 have been merely league common. That’s not an encouraging pattern for a primary baseman getting into his late thirties. Nonetheless, Goldschmidt’s underlying numbers in 2024 provide a bit of extra promise. His .308 batting common on balls in play was nicely under his profession common of .343. Equally, his .310 wOBA was noticeably worse than his .329 xwOBA. A .329 wOBA nonetheless would have been the worst of his profession, nevertheless it additionally would have been considerably higher than league common. Lastly, Goldschmidt’s second-half efficiency was vastly superior to his first-half effort. Via the All-Star break, he was slashing .230/.291/.373 with an 87 wRC+. From the break onward, he hit .271/.319/.480 with a 120 wRC+.
The Yankees are absolutely hoping Goldschmidt appears to be like like his second-half self all through the 2025 season. Nonetheless, even his mediocre full-season numbers could be an enormous improve over what the Yankees bought from their first basemen in 2024. Yankees first basemen ranked final in MLB in OPS (.619), second-to-last in wRC+ (76), and twenty sixth in FanGraphs WAR (-1.1). If Goldschmidt can merely repeat his 2024 marketing campaign, the Yankees would get an enormous enhance over the mixture of Anthony Rizzo, Ben Rice, and DJ LeMahieu. That will probably be very true in opposition to left-handed pitching. Goldschmidt slashed .295/.366/.473 with a 134 wRC+ in opposition to lefties this previous season. In the meantime, New York’s offense was considerably worse in opposition to lefties than righties. Goldschmidt must be an enormous assist in that division.
On the defensive aspect, Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner, will undoubtedly play first base for the Yankees. That may push current commerce acquisition Cody Bellinger into the outfield. It all the time appeared seemingly that Bellinger would play the outfield in New York, however supervisor Aaron Boone instructed earlier this week that first base was nonetheless an possibility. It’s protected to say that possibility is now off the desk.
If the Yankees are nonetheless wanting so as to add one other bat, third base may very well be the subsequent avenue they flip to for enchancment. Jazz Chisholm Jr. took over on the scorching nook after the commerce deadline in 2024, however second base is his pure place. By sliding again to second, he might give the Yankees extra flexibility to hunt an improve within the infield. Some intriguing choices at third base embody free agent Alex Bregman and commerce candidate Nolan Arenado. The Yankees have already expressed curiosity in each gamers.
Including both Bregman or Arenado would seemingly push the workforce’s payroll above final yr’s ultimate estimate of $303MM (per RosterResource). It could additionally put them above the very best tier of the luxurious tax as soon as once more. Though it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Yankees run such a excessive payroll in 2025, it’s value protecting in thoughts that even the Steinbrenner’s have their spending limits. Chairman Hal Steinbrenner stated earlier this yr that the workforce’s present payroll is “merely not sustainable for us financially.” The truth that the Yankees have been outbid for Juan Soto and that they have been searching for a inexpensive first baseman like Goldschmidt additional means that GM Brian Cashman is working beneath payroll constraints. These constraints might influence how the workforce operates for the remainder of the offseason.
