Paul Goldschmidt is Becoming a Serious Problem for the Yankees

It was mid-February, and Paul Goldschmidt was still remaining in free agency after an uneven 2025 campaign with the New York Yankees.

At 38 years old and coming off of a season in which he slugged a career-low .403, there was very sparse interest in the former MVP. But the Yankees decided to bring Goldschmidt back, re-signing him on a one-year, $4 million contract.

It has ended up becoming one of the most significant moves New York has made over the last couple of winters.

Goldschmidt is slashing .297/.358/.569 with 14 home runs and 40 RBI over 215 plate appearances this season. He already has four more homers than he had all of last year, and it's important to remember that he didn't begin receiving significant playing time until late April this year.

The first baseman entered play on Thursday night with a .271 ISO, the best mark of his career. His 12.0 percent barrel rate is above his lifetime average of 11.4 percent and his best since 2021. His .316 BABIP is also well below his career median of .341, so it's also not like he is getting inherently lucky.

His hard-hit rate (40.0 percent) is actually his lowest ever, which is strange given his barrel rate. His bat speed has also dipped from last year. So maybe some regression is coming for the 16-year veteran?

But it's hard to argue with the results we have seen from him.

The problem? Goldschmidt is painting the Yankees into a corner, and he's making it incredibly difficult for them to ultimately skim his playing time once New York gets fully healthy.

Currently, the Yankees are without Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham. Judge probably won't be back until mid-to-late August. Stanton has no definitive timetable, although you have to figure he'll be back sooner. Grisham seems to be making terrific progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

We know that Judge will retake right field once he returns, and Grisham will almost surely resume his starting job in center. Stanton, though, is a full-time designated hitter, which would push Ben Rice (who has mostly been serving as DH in Stanton's absence) back to first base and, with that, Goldschmidt to the bench.

Unless Aaron Boone comes up with an alternative?

Let's just get something squared away right now before you start thinking crazy: the Yankees absolutely, positively need Stanton's bat in the lineup. Because he's one of the most disrespected Yankees ever, you'll have those weird New York fans that will call for his benching because of Goldschmidt's hot first half. But that's nonsense.

Those who have watched the Yanks closely over the years know what Stanton means to the club, and they especially understand just how valuable he is in October. So sitting him on the bench is out of the question.

You know what the real solution is? Benching Austin Wells and putting Rice behind the plate, even if it means the Yankees would be sacrificing defense at catcher and, potentially, some of Rice's offense.

We know Rice isn't a good defensive backstop, but Wells' OPS has been in the .500s most of the year. He has been awful, and having that type of bat in your lineup come playoff time is a major weight. Can you really live with that?

This is why New York should be getting Rice some work behind the plate now to prepare him for such a role in the latter stages of the campaign and into the postseason, but the Yankees refuse to do it.

We've been over their ridiculous love affair with Wells before. For some reason, New York remains attached to him in spite of his offensive ineptitude.

For as much as taking on catcher duties will subtract from Rice's offense, the Yankees' lineup will still be night and day superior with Rice starting over Wells and with both Stanton and Goldschmidt in the lineup.

Whether or not New York actually has the gumption to do it remains to be seen, but based on what we have witnessed from the Yanks thus far, they probably don't.

And because of that, they are going to create a problem that shouldn't exist.

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