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Paul Goldschmidt’s six-year run with the St. Louis Cardinals is over after he agreed to a deal with the New York Yankees.
Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported Goldschmidt and the Yankees reached agreement on a one-year contract. ESPN’s Jeff Passan added the deal will be worth $12.5 million.
Even though the Cardinals were able to salvage a decent season by record (83-79), this roster was in desperate need of an overhaul.
St. Louis had the third-oldest roster in MLB during the 2024 season. The age-related decline for former star players like Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado left the team in a difficult spot.
It’s to the credit of Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch that they did eventually start to embrace a youth movement. Masyn Winn, Lars Nootbar, Alec Burleson and Andre Pallante all look like contributors on the next great St. Louis team.
Goldschmidt’s future is more difficult to figure out. He is only two years removed from winning the NL MVP award with a .317/.404/.578 slash line in 151 games during the 2022 campaign.
But now, at 38 years old, Goldschmidt doesn’t look anything like that hitter. He had his highest strikeout rate (26.5 percent) since his rookie year in 2011 when he only played in 48 games. He has the lowest walk rate (7.2 percent) of his career.
Goldschmidt was right around league average with a 98 OPS+ last season, but that’s not what you want from a player who can only play at first base or DH.
The Yankees will be hoping that a change of scenery can provide a spark that turns things around for Goldschmidt. His track record of success does offer some hope he will fix things, though it’s hard not to be concerned because of his age.
This isn’t exactly the big splash Yankees fans may have been wanting given their lineup issues beyond Aaron Judge, but Goldschmidt does represent an upgrade over what they got out of Anthony Rizzo at first base last season.
Since there is no way to add a one-for-one replacement for Juan Soto, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has done a solid job of recreating his production in the aggregate.
New York’s biggest addition was to the pitching staff by signing Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract. The reigning AL champs are also hoping the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium will provide a boost to Cody Bellinger’s power output after they acquired him from the Chicago Cubs.
Goldschmidt certainly helps the Yankees against left-handed pitching in a way that Bellinger doesn’t. Bellinger had a .305 on-base percentage against lefties last season. He did hit for average (.298) and decent power (.441), but they need him to get on base at a higher clip to be of significant value.
By comparison, Goldschmidt had a .295/.366/.473 slash line vs. left-handed pitching last season. He can still be an effective player in the right circumstances, but the Yankees still have work to do with their offense to get back to the level they were at in 2024 with Soto hitting in front of Judge.
