The New York Yankees have been linked to virtually every first baseman available via free agency or trade during the offseason. They have been tied to Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor, Yandy Diaz, and the man who just signed a three-year deal for the Houston Astros, Christian Walker.
With Walker off the board, the Yankees are reportedly focusing on a former MVP (in 2022) who happens to play the position: Paul Goldschmidt.
The Yankees have focused their attention on Paul Goldschmidt
Aaron Judge’s former workout buddy is free to sign with any team and the Yankees, so far, like what they have seen from him in free agency.
“The Yankees are ‘focused’ on Paul Goldschmidt and Carlos Santana, per @BNightengale,” B/R Walk-off wrote on X. Santana is 38 and Goldschmidt is 37, but both might still have something left to help the Yanks despite their advanced age.
The Yankees, however, won’t have it easy with any one of them, particularly with Goldschmidt. They have plenty of competition for his services.
Many teams are competing with the Yankees for Goldschmidt
“While the Yankees still are showing strong interest in 1B Paul Goldschmidt, there’s plenty of competition: The Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, and New York Mets are all engaged in talks with Goldschmidt, too,” MLB insider Bob Nightengale posted on X.
The Mariners are desperate for a first baseman and have also been linked to Cleveland Guardians star Josh Naylor, while the Giants are desperate to add stars. Both the Nationals and Mets were linked to Walker before he committed his future to Houston so they remain threats to sign Goldschmidt or Santana.
If the Yankees don’t bring in anyone from outside, they will likely employ Ben Rice as their first baseman. Goldschmidt hit 22 home runs with a .716 OPS this past season with the St. Louis Cardinals. He did have a torrid 30-game stretch to close out his campaign: .330, 13 doubles, five home runs and a .920 OPS.