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The New York Yankees are reportedly bringing another part of the 2025 roster back.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Yankees are finalizing a one-year contract with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Financial terms are not yet available.
Reports of a possible reunion surfaced at the end of January. The Yankees were looking at Goldschmidt as a platoon partner for first baseman/catcher Ben Rice, helping to balance a left-handed hitting heavy lineup.
Yankees continue rebuilding 2025 roster despite general manager Brian Cashman’s protestations
Goldschmidt is not the perennial All-Star or MVP candidate that he once was, but he can still be a solid option. He produced a .277/.328/.403 batting line in his 534 plate appearances, hitting 10 homers and 31 doubles. Goldschmidt performed well against left-handed pitching, posting a .336/.411/.570 batting line in 168 plate appearances against southpaws, hitting seven home runs and 14 doubles.
Signing Goldschmidt fills a need for the Yankees. Rice managed to hit seven homers against lefties in 2025, but he produced a .208/.271/.481 batting line in his 119 plate appearances. Goldschmidt is a natural platoon partner and could see additional time at first if the Yankees put Rice behind the plate.
However, bringing Goldschmidt back will not help the criticism that has been leveled against Brian Cashman. He has adamantly denied running back the same roster as 2025 despite his biggest external acquisitions being pitchers Ryan Weathers and Angel Chivilli.
“It’s not the same roster. I would differ there. We have some players at some point returning from the IL that are important players, Gerrit Cole being obviously one of them. But we’ve had some additions from the second half that got their feet wet with the Yankees, some with success, some with failures,” Cashman said in January.
While Goldschmidt should help the Yankees, it is hard to argue that Cashman has made any meaningful changes to their 2025 roster.
