The narrative surrounding the New York Yankees entering the 2026 season has continued to be that they’re running it back. In my opinion, they are. According to Brian Cashman, they aren’t. And according to Jazz Chisholm’s comments earlier this week, which you can read about on this post, he thinks so.
However, veteran first baseman Paul Goldschmidt isn’t buying into that idea.
Speaking about the idea of the Yankees running it back, Goldschmidt pushed back on the idea that continuity automatically translates to running it back, emphasizing that each season has its own identity and results. While I get what he’s saying, the idea from fans and the media is the simple fact that theYankees roster looks very similar to what it did last year.
“It may be similar, there's some different pieces. It's a different year, it's all different. Nothing from last year carries over to this year, either. We've got to earn every single win, we've got to earn our way into the playoffs, and hopefully we can do that,” he said, per SNY.
While fans and the media often evaluate teams based on offseason additions and departures, players understand that performances are the biggest thing. Previous success, postseason runs, and individual accolades don’t mean a thing once the year is over..
Even with a roster viewed as one of the most talented on paper in the American League, he made it clear that expectations alone won’t mean the Yankees will win games.
“We have a talented roster but, the game's not played on paper. There's a lot of other great teams out there and our job is to go out there and play better than them.”
For a veteran like Goldschmidt, he’s simply a guy who understands it at the highest level. All Goldschmidt has done for much of his career is swing it at a very high level and play ard. For a guy who has been in the league for as long as he has, there aren’t many other players in the league who understand what each season brings like Goldschmidt.
I still think they’re running it back, but that doesn’t have to be viewed as a bad thing!