Yankees Have Better Options Than Bringing Back Paul Goldschmidt

While the New York Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt experiment last season could confidently be deemed at least a mild success, the club has no real reason to bring back the potential Hall of Fame first baseman.

That doesn't appear to be the Yankees' current line of thinking, however, with YES Network's Jack Curry stating on the latest episode of "Yankees Hot Stove" that Goldschmidt and the team have had conversations this offseason regarding a possible return, as also noted by SNY.

Yankees On SI's Joseph Randazzo recently argued in favor of the club reuniting with Goldschmidt, citing his ability to both mash left-handed pitching as a bench bat and serve as insurance as a designated hitter option in case Giancarlo Stanton, who's been plagued by injuries throughout his time in pinstripes, goes down once again in 2026.

All of those points are extremely valid, but there are also a handful of reasons why the Yankees should keep their partnership with Goldschmidt as a one-off and look elsewhere for additional bats at this stage of the offseason.

Limited Roster Flexibility

FanGraphs Roster Resource currently projects New York to carry a four-man bench of Amed Rosario, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jasson Dominguez and J.C. Escarra into the regular season.

In this scenario, Escarra would act as the Yankees' backup catcher behind Austin Wells while Cabrera, a switch-hitter who's coming off a fractured ankle, and Rosario, who crushes southpaws, could move around the diamond a little bit. Meanwhile, Dominguez would once again be New York's fourth outfielder behind the trio of Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge.

Should New York re-sign Goldschmidt and have him enter the mix, however, that could lead to Cabrera getting optioned to Triple-A to open the year unless the team is confident in Rice handling backup catcher duties behind Austin Wells and subsequently sends Escarra down or is comfortable allowing Dominguez to get everyday at-bats in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

While none of those outcomes would be catastrophic for the Yankees from a defensive standpoint in terms of their ability to adequately shuffle the deck if needed, Goldschmidt is, and always has been, strictly a first baseman, which could still hamper them to a certain extent regardless of his offensive output.