Decorated veteran slugger and former MVP Paul Goldschmidt has agreed to terms with the New York Yankees on a one-year pact worth $12.5 million, Jim Bowden of CBS Sports HQ reported Saturday.
This past season with the St. Louis Cardinals, Goldschmidt showed signs of decline at the plate. In 154 games for the Cardinals, Goldschmidt batted .245/.302/.414 (98 OPS+) with 22 home runs. On the upside, Goldschmidt was productive in 2022 and in 2023 claimed his first and only MVP award as a member of the Cardinals.
As well, he's still capable of hitting the ball quite hard, and the Yankees are betting on that quality of contact to hold sway over Goldschmidt's age, 37, and increasing strikeout rates. Goldschmidt will slot in at first base for the Yankees, replacing fellow free-agent Anthony Rizzo after his own disappointing 2024 campaign.
Earlier in the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Goldschmidt as the No. 43 available free agent in the current class. Here's part of our write-up:
It took 14 seasons but, for the first time in Goldschmidt's career, he failed to post an OPS+ of 100 or better. We must admit that the end is nigh. Goldschmidt's strikeout and walk rates both veered in the wrong directions, leaving him more dependent on his slugging. He can still put a charge into the ball, but his power output has slipped over the last two seasons. There's no shame to any of this; it's simply how aging in baseball works. Goldschmidt is 37 years old and has had a phenomenal career, one that has included seven All-Star Game appearances and a Most Valuable Player Award victory. We think he'll play big-league baseball in 2025 if he chooses to; he just won't be as good as he used to be, to say nothing of him being as good as he wants to be.
Goldschmidt will enter the 2025 season with a career OPS+ of 139, 362 home runs, and a WAR of 62.8. He'll one day be a candidate to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but for now Goldschmidt's focus will be on authoring a comeback season in 2025.
