He figures to be at first in 2025, with Bellinger possibly moving there from the outfield the following season, but Goldschmidt isn’t ruling anything out.
Goldschmidt said he watched the Soto sweepstakes and was asked how this year’s lineup looks at this point in the offseason.
And even when he struggled a year ago, Goldschmidt believed he had more left.
But as they saw with Rizzo, relying on a resurgence from players well into their 30s can be dangerous.
Unlike Rizzo, though, Goldschmidt has stayed healthy, even at this point of his career. And some of his recent advanced metrics indicate he hit into some bad luck last season.
At 37, just what kind of player are the Yankees getting as they look to boost their lineup in various ways in the wake of Juan Soto’s departure to the Mets in free agency?
“Something was a little off and I created bad habits,’’ Goldschmidt said. “It took me a while to get back to a good position to hit… It took me longer than it ever has to get back to it.”
Some of the results were promising, including a .774 OPS after May 12 — covering 117 games — as well as a .842 OPS in his final 43 games of the season.
Paul Goldschmidt says he “didn’t play well most of the year last year and there’s no excuses for that,” but he feels he still has plenty left in the tank:”I can still play at a really, really high level” pic.twitter.com/n0zGXzhOKl
While Goldschmidt didn’t get into too many specifics, the first baseman said he made changes both mechanically with his swing and in his approach at the plate to get himself into a better swing position.
A bounce-back season from the right-swinging Goldschmidt, as well as the left-handed Bellinger, coupled with the additions to the pitching staff of lefty Max Fried and closer Devin Williams, would go a long way in getting the Yankees back to the top of the American League.
After falling off from his 2022 MVP performance the following season in St. Louis, Goldschmidt cratered in the first half of last year before rebounding in the latter part of 2024.
Goldschmidt, a seven-time All-Star and solid defender, has never made it past the LDS in the postseason and said his “top priority” in looking for a new team in his first foray into free agency was an opportunity to win a World Series.