Yankees to sign former MVP first baseman

The Yankees have agreed to a one-year, $12.5M deal with Paul Goldschmidt. Jack Curry of YES Network was the first to report that the two sides were in agreement, while Bob Nightengale of USA Today added the dollar value of the contract for the Excel Sports Management client. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com notes that it is a straight one-year contract without any options attached.

Nightengale describes the Yankees’ pursuit of Goldschmidt this week as aggressive, though he notes they were also in talks with Christian Walker before he signed with the Astros. Carlos Santana was another first baseman New York reportedly considered. The Yankees had also been linked to Pete Alonso earlier in the offseason, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported on Thursday that they were “increasingly likely” to opt for a less expensive first base signing. Indeed, Goldschmidt’s $12.5M salary is well below the three-year, $60M guarantee Walker received from Houston and the five-year, $125M deal MLBTR predicted for Alonso. It’s also below the one-year, $15M pact we predicted for Goldschmidt when we ranked him at no. 35 on our Top 50 Free Agents list.

Goldschmidt, 37, was a free agent for the first time. He was drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2009 and made his big league debut with Arizona in 2011. After a strong start to his MLB career, he signed an extension with the D-backs that kept him under team control through the 2019 season. Upon being traded to the Cardinals in 2019, he signed another extension that ran through 2024. Through those years with Arizona and St. Louis, Goldschmidt was one of the best players in baseball. He made seven All-Star teams, won five Silver Sluggers and earned NL MVP honors in 2022. Over 1928 career games, he has slashed .289/.381/.510 with 362 home runs and a 139 wRC+.

Since his MVP season in 2022, Goldschmidt has taken a few steps back. His .810 OPS and 122 wRC+ in 2023 were more good than great, while his .716 OPS and 100 wRC+ in 2024 were merely league average. That’s not an encouraging trend for a first baseman entering his late thirties. However, Goldschmidt’s underlying numbers in 2024 offer a little more promise. His .308 batting average on balls in play was well below his career average of .343. Similarly, his .310 wOBA was noticeably worse than his .329 xwOBA. A .329 wOBA still would have been the worst of his career, but it also would have been significantly better than league average. Finally, Goldschmidt’s second-half performance was vastly superior to his first-half effort. Through 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 surely hoping Goldschmidt looks like his second-half self throughout the 2025 season. However, even his mediocre full-season numbers would be a big upgrade over what the Yankees got from their first basemen in 2024. Yankees' first basemen ranked last in MLB in OPS (.619), second-to-last in wRC+ (76), and 26th in FanGraphs WAR (-1.1). If Goldschmidt can simply repeat his 2024 campaign, the Yankees would get a big boost over the combination of Anthony Rizzo, Ben Rice and DJ LeMahieu. That will be especially true against left-handed pitching. Goldschmidt slashed .295/.366/.473 with a 134 wRC+ against lefties this past season. Meanwhile, New York’s offense was significantly worse against lefties than righties. Goldschmidt should be a big help in that department.

On the defensive side, Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner, will undoubtedly play first base for the Yankees. That will push recent trade acquisition Cody Bellinger into the outfield. It always seemed likely that Bellinger would play the outfield in New York, but manager Aaron Boone suggested earlier this week that first base was still an option. It’s safe to say that option is now off the table.

If the Yankees are still looking to add another bat, third base could be the next avenue they turn to for improvement. Jazz Chisholm Jr. took over at the hot corner after the trade deadline in 2024, but second base is his natural position. By sliding back to second, he could give the Yankees more flexibility to seek an upgrade in the infield. Some intriguing options at third base include free agent Alex Bregman and trade candidate Nolan Arenado. The Yankees have already expressed interest in both players.

Adding either Bregman or Arenado would likely push the team’s payroll above last year’s final estimate of $303M (per RosterResource). It would also put them above the highest tier of the luxury tax once again. Although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Yankees run such a high payroll in 2025, it’s worth keeping in mind that even the Steinbrenner’s have their spending limits. Chairman Hal Steinbrenner said earlier this year that the team’s current payroll is “simply not sustainable for us financially.” The fact that the Yankees were outbid for Juan Soto and that they were seeking a less expensive first baseman like Goldschmidt further suggests that GM Brian Cashman is working under payroll constraints. Those constraints could impact how the team operates for the rest of the offseason.