Paul Goldschmidt DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports that New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt will start in the team's Grapefruit League opener on Friday against the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays. In addition to Goldy, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez and Cody Bellinger are scheduled to play. After seeing a notable decline in his offensive skills the last couple years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Goldschmidt signed a one-year, $12.5 million deal with the Yankees and will be their primary first baseman in 2025. The 37-year-old former MVP had 35 homers in 2022 before dropping to 25 in 2023 and 22 last year. He had career-worst marks in strikeout rate (26.5%) and walk rate (7.2%), but a hard-hit rate just below 50% shows that he could bounce back in a better situation in the Bronx this year. RotoBaller has Goldy ranked as the No. 15 fantasy first baseman.

Free-agent first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and the New York Yankees agreed on a one-year, $12.5 million deal on Saturday, pending a physical, according to a source. Goldschmidt was also receiving interest from the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners and New York Mets, but he'll instead head to the Bronx and replace Anthony Rizzo as the club's regular first baseman in 2025. The 37-year-old right-handed slugger has been an All-Star seven times and was the National League MVP in 2022 with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he declined significantly on offense in 2024 with a .245/.302/.414 slash line with a career-worst .716 OPS and 22 home runs in 154 games. Although Goldy was better in the second half, it's concerning that his strikeout rate rose to a career-high 26.5% while his walk rate was at a career-low 7.2%. There could be some juice left, and New York isn't a bad landing spot.

The Detroit Tigers are showing interest in free-agent first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, according to sources. The 37-year-old veteran right-handed slugger is only two years removed from winning the National League MVP award. However, his offensive prowess dropped considerably in a disappointing 2024 campaign in which he hit 22 home runs with a .716 OPS in 154 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. Because of his rapid decline at the plate, the Cardinals didn't even offer him a one-year qualifying offer, so Detroit wouldn't have to send draft compensation St. Louis' way if the were to sign Goldy. With the Cards looking to get younger in 2025, they aren't expected to pursue re-signing him. A move to Detroit wouldn't be a great landing spot from a fantasy perspective after Goldschmidt posted career-worsts in strikeout rate (26.5%) and walk rate (7.2%).