Adding a bench bat was among the final things the Yankees were looking to do ahead of the 2026 season, and Paul Goldschmidt seems to be that piece.
The reported money ($4 million) would tell you that he’s going to be a platoon player who doesn’t get everyday reps, but it raises questions about how his role will interact with the rest of the roster.
Will he continue hitting lefties at the rate he did last year, or will we see a steep decline in production? Is Ben Rice going to play way less than we hoped for this year? Why did the Yankees sign a 1B only?
It’s far from a perfect signing (most at this price range are imperfect), but Paul Goldschmidt can play an important role on this tea,m and here are the three reasons why the Yankees brought him back.
READ MORE: Ranking the Yankees’ top 30 prospects ahead of the 2026 season
1) Paul Goldschmidt Makes the Offense Devastating Against Lefties
Last season, Paul Goldschmidt was fourth in qualified OPS (.981) against left-handed pitching, and the expected numbers back up the production.
While his numbers tumbled after June, his expected OPS against lefties remained strong (.957), which indicates he was still hitting the ball hard and making a good amount of contact in those situations.
These metrics are descriptive and not predictive, but they serve an important role in projections since we can do some age regression based on his batted ball data from last year.
Goldschmidt’s bat speed and sprint speeds remained on par with his 2024 season, which would indicate there isn’t an active physical decline taking place; his second-half slide was likely a correction of his unsustainably hot start.
We’ll get more into Ben Rice’s playing time later, but the Yankees could run a lineup of Paul Goldschmidt at first base and Ben Rice at catcher, which would seriously improve their floor and ceiling in those matchups.
Austin Wells had a 100 wRC+ against lefties last year, but his expected numbers in those matchups were firmly below-average, and I would bet against him performing that well in those situations.
I expect Ben Rice, who had a higher wRC+, OPS, and expected OPS in those matchups last year compared to Wells, to provide a more stable offense, even though the defense would be worse.
Suddenly, you have three of the four best hitters against LHP last year in the same lineup again, and in an American League with Garrett Crochet, Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, and Cole Ragans, you’ll need to have a counter.
2) Ben Rice’s Playing Time Shouldn’t Be Affected Too Much
It might seem like the Yankees are gearing up to not play Ben Rice much against lefties, but this would be a bit of an overreaction based on his usage last season.
22.5% of Rice’s plate appearances last year came against lefties (119 PAs), which is fairly close to the percentage of plate appearances taken as a league against southpaws (27.2%).
Even after the trade deadline, when Giancarlo Stanton had returned from the IL, and the team had added three right-handed bench bats to siphon playing time from their lefties, his % of PAs vs LHP was 22.7%.
When the Yankees and Red Sox clashed in a do-or-die Game 3, Connelly Early was given the start, and the left-hander did not prompt Aaron Boone to sit Ben Rice for that game.
Ben Rice will likely not be significantly affected by Paul Goldschmidt; under 40% of his plate appearances last year came as a first baseman, and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t get more than 50 games at the position.
Austin Wells only took 68.5% of the Yankees’ plate appearances at catcher, and Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t played 120 games in a regular season since 2021; there will be plenty of room for the team to get Rice some in-game action.
Since Rice is likely going to catch (he caught in 36 games last year) he’ll need some offdays as well during the regular season, it’s a long year and come postseason time he almost certainly won’t see the bench.
I also think there will be value to Paul Goldschmidt mentoring Ben Rice; he took less money from the Yankees to stay and is very well-respected around the league for a reason.
3) The Yankees Get Some Added Insurance For Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Stanton as I mentioned earlier has not played more than 114 games in a regular season since 2022, you have to essentially bake-in an IL stint every year for him when building the roster.
One of the biggest reasons why the 2025 Yankees were able to score runs while he was gone was the fact that Ben Rice stepped up as a DH option in his absence.
Jasson Dominguez is in a similar spot to Rice, a talented young hitter who struggled vs LHP early in his career and hasn’t found a defensive home yet.
He rocked a 116 wRC+ vs RHP last season and would be able to DH while Stanton is out or spell Aaron Judge a day off by playing the corner outfield.
The speed he provides could make up for some of the lost power when the former MVP is on the shelf, and when a lefty is on the mound, you can slot Ben Rice at DH and Paul Goldschmidt at 1B.
Aaron Boone could easily shuffle around his roster to keep the offense clicking while one of his biggest pieces (figuratively and literally) is out of the everyday batting order.
More about:New York Yankees
