I love a good sequel movie.  I always thought Terminator 2 was better than the original Terminator.  I also thought the sequels in the Godfather, Bill & Ted, Back to the Future, and all the horror movie franchises were faithful to the originals.  Well, you know who else likes sequels?  The New York Yankees.  Yes, they dumped about 5 relievers, but they have not added one free agent this offseason, and with the signing of Paul Goldschmidt, they have brought back all their hitters except for poor Austin “Saved by the Bell” Slater.  In fact, they have lost zero plate appearances from their roster at the end of the last season and less than 500 plate appearances from anyone who swung a bat last year (great players such as DJ LeMahieu, Oswald Peraza, Jorbit Vivas, and Pablo Reyes, yuck).  So, as the full lineup is coming back, let’s take a look at our latest signing and why, in my view, it was an unwise move.

Goldschmidt could make the Hall of Fame

Let’s start out by acknowledging that Paul has had a great career.  Goldschmidt has 63.8 WAR over his career (Carlos Beltran had 70 WAR for his career, and Andruw Jones had 62.7), which is in line with many Hall of Famers.  He owns a .279/.350/.486 slash line for his career.  He also has an MVP on his mantle and five other seasons finishing in the Top 6.  He is a little weak for a first baseman, but he will be someone on the cusp of the Hall of Fame for years of voting.  Tip your hat to this guy.  

 Overall, he was decent last year

Paul had a .274/.328/.403 slash line last season.  Slightly above average for a hitter, but a little worse than the average first baseman.  Overall, his season was worth 1.2 WAR (and it was basically the same as his 2024 season).  Most importantly, he mashed left-handed pitchers in 2025, and that is the role he is expected to play this season (.336/.411/.570).  

He Won’t Cost A lot of $$$$

I am not a fan of inflated contracts, so when I see a deal for one year and $4 million, that makes me smile.  A similar contract to what Austin Hays and Miguel Andujar got, so in line with what a platoon player who hits lefties got this offseason (so not another overpay).  

Yet it’s still a horrible signing 

So now you are wondering, why do I hate this signing?  It’s simple.  Paul stopped hitting after June 1st.  Even against lefties, he had an OPS of .670 (which was lower than Ben Rice against lefties).  When you dig even deeper, though, it gets worse.  In June, he hit .143/.226/.238.  He followed it up with two average months (.708 OPS and .704 OPS) before face-planting in September (even when he hit exclusively against lefties) with a .245/.322/.264 slash line.  Even worse than that was the fact that a guy playing in a power position lost all his power.  Paul hit TWO home runs after July 1st, TWO, in over two hundred plate appearances.  That rivals some of the worst Yankee shortstops of the 1980s!

So, the Yankees are filling a roster spot with a 38-year-old player who hit a wall last season.  Somehow, they think it was injury-based, and he will bounce back.  Color me skeptical.  The Yankees said the same thing about DJ last season, and they cut him soon after he returned.  I suspect we will see the same with Paul.  At his age, sadly, it doesn’t come back to you.  So rather than add a young player to the opening day roster (like Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones), they are giving that spot to a borderline Hall of Fame player who is hoping to hang on for one last season of glory.  Classic mistake.