Two offseasons ago, Paul Goldschmidt made a three-hour drive across the state of Florida for a chance to compare notes with one of his favorite stars in Aaron Judge, a couple of reigning Most Valuable Players huddling near the Yankees’ spring home in Tampa, Fla.
Goldschmidt and Judge hit in the cages that day, then hit it off over lunch, with Goldschmidt later gushing that Judge is not only “one of the best hitters on the planet,” but “one of the best people around.”
They’ll have more opportunities to work together this coming season. Goldschmidt signed a one-year contract with the Yankees, the club announced on Monday. The deal is worth $12.5 million, per a source, though the team did not confirm the value.
Goldschmidt, 37, represents the latest headline in a flurry of moves for the Bombers, who have added left-handed starter Max Fried, right-handed closer Devin Williams, outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger, right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson since the beginning of the Winter Meetings.
The Yanks had shown interest in first baseman Christian Walker, who instead signed a three-year, $60 million deal with the Astros.
Instead, the Yankees will look to Goldschmidt to improve their production at first base, a position where they lacked thump in 2024. Yankees first basemen managed just a .216/.284/.335 slash line with 16 homers, with most of those at-bats going to Anthony Rizzo, who is currently a free agent.
By comparison, Goldschmidt hit .245/.302/.414 with 22 homers last year for the Cardinals, which represented the lowest output offensively of his career. Goldschmidt’s 98 OPS+ in 2024 marked the first time he has been a below-average Major Leaguer at the plate.
A seven-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner who was the National League’s MVP in 2022, when he posted a .981 OPS with 35 home runs, Goldschmidt played his first eight seasons with the D-backs before being traded to the Cardinals in December 2018. Goldschmidt signed a contract extension with the Cards shortly thereafter.
Whether Goldschmidt can rebound remains to be seen, but he did have a resurgence following a 2019 campaign during which he had his lowest OPS (.821) since his rookie year. He looked much more like himself at the plate in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and then in ’21 before taking it to another level in ’22.
The addition of Goldschmidt will give the Yanks a lineup featuring four MVPs, along with Judge (twice), Giancarlo Stanton (once) and the recently acquired Bellinger (once). The 2025 Yankees will be the seventh team to have four MVP winners appear in a single season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Goldschmidt’s acquisition could also help the Yankees make another offseason pickup. The Yanks have expressed interest in trading for Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado, who has a full no-trade clause.
Arenado’s friendship with Goldschmidt could entice him to do so, should the teams agree on a swap.