Yankees re-sign 1B Paul Goldschmidt

The New York Yankees have re-signed veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

Goldschmidt turned 38 in September and also spent last season with the Yankees, batting .274 with ten homers and a 103 wRC+ in 146 games. His age really showed last season when his hard contact rate (Hard%) dipped over ten points to 29.9%. All the more frustrating was Goldschmidt’s ground ball rate (GB%) dipped too, so one would think more balls in the air would mean better production in Yankee Stadium.

Apparently not! Paul Goldschmidt hit almost 100 points better on the road than he did in the Bronx, .322 with an .842 OPS versus .221 with a meager .607 OPS at home. He also hit .245 with just two home runs in the second half. He was healthy and his bat speed didn’t really change, so who knows what caused his dip in hard-hit balls?

But no matter how you spin it, Paul Goldschmidt, even as he winds down his career, is a future Hall-of-Famer. He’s a .274 lifetime hitter with 372 home runs and 1,232 RBI. Seven All-Star selections, four Gold Gloves at first base, and an MVP trophy.

Yankees fans on Twitter/X and Facebook will hate this move, especially with the popular Ben Rice primed to take over as the everyday first baseman. And that is just what he’ll be come Opening Day after hitting 26 home runs in 2025. His left-handed bat is perfect for Yankee Stadium, and Rice makes regular hard contact.

So where does that leave Paul Goldschmidt? Out on the cold, cold streets of East 161st Street and River Avenue? No, of course not.

Instead, it looks like Goldschmidt re-upped in New York despite higher offers elsewhere knowing full well what he’d do. He’ll play first base when the other team starts a lefty. He’ll probably sub in late at first base in close games that Rice starts. The guy clearly liked playing in New York enough to come back in a platoon role.

At the end of the day, Paul Goldschmidt is really just following the same offseason plan as the Yankees themselves. He’s running it back and doing what any former star player does when their career is almost over. Goldschmidt wants to play on a team with a legitimate shot at the World Series. The Yankees, meanwhile, won 94 games in 2025 after losing Juan Soto to free agency and Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery.

It’s a move that serves both teams. Goldschmidt’s right-handed bat complements Rice. Plus, he gets at least one more year to chase a ring and inch closer to 400 career home runs. He still hit .336 against lefties last year, so maybe there’s something left in the tank yet.

That is, if he can actually still hit the ball hard.