The New York Yankees introduced first baseman and 2022 National League MVP Paul Goldschmidt during a SportsNet New York video conference held with media on Thursday, January 2, after he signed a $12.5 million, one-year contract on December 30, 2024.
“I was really excited, and free agency is kind of a long, slow process, and I just got to a point with a decision to be made,” Goldschmidt said on the SNY video conference. “I’m very excited to be a Yankee and glad it worked out, along with still having that excitement to get to spring training and getting with all the guys.”
Goldschmidt, 37, was born in Wilmington, Del., and has played 14 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2011-18 and the St. Louis Cardinals from 2019-24.
The right-handed slugger elected free agency on October 31, 2024, before signing with the 2024 American League champions.
Goldschmidt is a seven-time All-Star from 2013-18 and 2022, a four-time Gold Glove Award in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2021, a five-time Silver Slugger Award in 2013, 2015, 2017-18 and 2022, a two-time NL Hank Aaron Award winner in 2013 and 2022, and led the NL in home runs and RBI in 2013.
Last season, Goldschmidt played 154 games with St. Louis and hitting .245 with 654 plate appearances, ripping 147 hits, 33 doubles, one triple, 22 home runs, 65 RBI, 11 stolen bases, 47 walks, 173 strikeouts, and a .716 OPS.
“I didn’t play well most of the year last season, and that was all about me,” Goldschmidt said. “Looking back, there were a lot of things in the first half that I learned and that I did wrong that got exposed with not hitting pitches that, for most of my career, I was able to connect on. Things that the opponents were doing, even if they were pitching to me, were different, and learning from that with the second half to make adjustments being mechanical with my swing and approach.”
The Cardinals ended the 2024 season in second place in the NL Central Division with their record at 83-79 and tied with the Chicago Cubs under manager Oliver Marmol.
Goldschmidt played in 150 games at first base in 2024 and started in 148, through 1,313 innings, 1,323 chances, 1,216 putouts, 102 assists, five errors, 137 double plays, and a .996 fielding percentage.
During Goldschmidt’s six years with the Cardinals, he had a 22.9 WAR, playing in 836 games, batting .278 with 3,584 plate appearances, cracking 874 hits, 179 doubles, four triples, 153 home runs, 477 RBI, swiping 45 bases, 395 walks, 820 strikeouts, and a .843 OPS.
Arizona traded Goldschmidt to St. Louis for catcher Carson Kelly, right-handed pitcher Luke Weaver, second baseman Andy Young, and a Competitive Balance Round B pick in the 2019 MLB Draft on December 5, 2018, before he spent his next six seasons in the Gateway City.
Goldschmidt had a 39.9 WAR in his first eight MLB seasons in the desert while playing in 1,092 games, hitting .297 with 4,708 plate appearances, drilling 1,182 hits, 267 doubles, 19 triples, 209 home runs, 710 RBI, swiping 124 bases, 655 walks, 1,059 strikeouts, and .930 OPS.
Goldschmidt’s international stock also rose while playing with USA Baseball under manager Mark DeRosa in 2023 and winning a gold medal in 2017 with Hall-of-Fame manager Jim Leyland at the World Baseball Classic.
Goldschmidt played in seven games in the 2023 WBC and batted .280 with 25 at-bats, scoring eight runs, smacking seven hits, one double, one home run, five RBI, seven walks, and seven strikeouts while helping the United States make it to their second consecutive WBC championship game. The United States lost to Japan 3-2 in the 2023 WBC championship game at loanDepot Park in Miami.
He played in five games at the 2017 tournament and hit .077 with 13 at-bats, scoring two runs, one hit, three walks, and three strikeouts while helping the red, white, and blue win their first WBC title, beating Puerto Rico 8-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
Goldschmidt is projected to be the starting first baseman from the team’s depth chart going into the 2024 Grapefruit League season under eighth-season manager Aaron Boone with Oswaldo Cabrera, Cody Bellinger, and DJ Lemahieu.
Notes and Tidbits
