The New York Yankees have been in full attack mode after losing Juan Soto a couple of weeks ago to the crosstown New York Mets. NYY went out a couple of days after the Soto decision and signed arguably the best starting pitcher on the market in left-hander Max Fried.
Following that move, we saw a typical Brian Cashman move which is a move that no one saw coming when Cashman acquired one of the best closers in the game, Devin Williams. Earlier this week, the Yankees finally completed their trade for former NL MVP Cody Bellinger which provides them a number of different options moving forward.
While NYY has pivoted strongly, there are still holes in the roster. The Yanks still need a first baseman and they need to acquire either a second baseman or a third baseman. Cody Bellinger’s ability to play solid defense at first base does give them the option to acquire an outfielder over a first baseman.
However, it seems that the Yankees are likely going to have Bellinger in the outfield. During the Winter Meetings, we heard a lot about the Yanks and free-agent first baseman, Christian Walker. It seemed like that was something that was going to happen, however, they have completely cooled on that front.
Walker was issued a qualifying offer and if the Yankees were to sign him, they’d give up a couple of draft picks. They already lost two picks with their signing of Max Fried. Jack Curry of the YES Network mentioned last night that a former NL MVP is being mentioned quite a bit internally by NYY.
Yankees and Goldschmidt Fit
It’s being reported that it’s increasingly likely that the Yankees are going to go more cost-effective at first base and the name being mentioned the most right now is Paul Goldschmidt. I’ll admit it just like most fans reading this, when I first heard of Paul Goldschmidt being the primary target for first, I rolled my eyes. The last two seasons have been far from MVP production from Goldschmidt.
That said, the more I’ve thought about it, the more it does make sense. You could probably get Goldschmidt on a cheap one-year deal. Goldschmidt is still going to give you really solid defense at first base and he helps the Yankees in an area where they were historically bad last year and that’s hitting against left-handed pitching.
NYY was awful against lefties last year. While Goldschmidt’s numbers were down last year, he still hit nearly 300 against lefties. With the Yanks importing Cody Bellinger, Goldschmidt’s ability to hit lefties really well would help bring a nice balance to the lineup. If Goldschmidt really struggles against righties this year, NYY could allow him to platoon with left-handed Ben Rice who I believe is much better than his numbers show.
Goldschmidt and a Bigger Move
Another reason why I believe Goldschmidt makes a ton of sense is that I think signing him would be coupled by a bigger move. That bigger move is still TBD, but I just feel like Cashman and his team have something big in the works. That something big could be signing someone like Alex Bregman to take over at third base.
However, I think the more likely scenario at this point is a trade. I see the Yankees making another big splash on the trade market for a big time infielder. We will see in the coming days / weeks, but I’m starting to get the feeling that Paul Goldschmidt is going to end up in pinstripes, but his signing will be coupled with a sexy move that will appease the fans. Brian Cashman isn’t messing around and this winter has been his time to shine. He’s done a great job so far, but even Cashman has admitted that there’s more work to be done.