The Yankees are committing themselves almost fully to running it back. On Friday, the Yankees signed Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year contract worth around $4 million.
The signing practically rounds out the Yankees’ starting nine and bench:
LINEUP:
- CF Trent Grisham
- RF Aaron Judge
- LF Cody Bellinger
- 1B Ben Rice
- DH Giancarlo Stanton
- 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.
- 3B Ryan McMahon
- SS José Caballero
- C Austin Wells
BENCH:
- C J.C. Escarra
- 1B Paul Goldschmidt
- INF/OF Amed Rosario
- OF/INF Oswaldo Cabrera
The Yankees may opt to go with a right-handed catcher over Escarra, but for now this is the alignment. Anthony Volpe will be starting the season on the Injured List with a shoulder injury.
Goldschmidt provides some much-needed balance to the Yankees’ lineup. While it wasn’t apparent that the Yankees had any interest in bringing him back, the move itself makes logical sense.
Goldschmidt, despite being 38 and more-or-less a shell of his former MVP self, can still hit left-handed pitching. The veteran batted .336 with a 169 wRC+ and .412 wOBA against lefties in 149 at-bats in 2025. Conversely, Ben Rice batted .208 with a 104 wRC+ and .316 wOBA against left-handed pitching in 106 at-bats.
Rice mashes right-handed pitching, posting a .269 average, 141 wRC+, and .371 wOBA in 361 at-bats in 2025. Goldschmidt, conversely, struggled against righties, posting a 74 wRC+ (100 is average) and .273 wOBA in 340 at-bats.
There are some gripes with this move, mostly centered around the fact that it’ll take at-bats away from Ben Rice. But the evidence is clear: you’d be minimizing Rice’s weaknesses while maximizing his strengths. Both Goldschmidt and Rice were about the same defensively at first base (metrically speaking) last season, and each are mirrors of each other from opposite sides of the plate. This is a sound move that will make the first base position exactly what it’s supposed to be for all 162 games—a great hitter.