The Yankees officially announced the signing of Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year contract. The Excel Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $12.5MM.
Nightengale describes the Yankees’ pursuit of Goldschmidt this week as aggressive, though he notes they were also in talks with Christian Walker before he signed with the Astros. Carlos Santana was another first baseman New York reportedly considered. The Yankees had also been linked to Pete Alonso earlier in the offseason, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that they were “increasingly likely” to opt for a less expensive first base signing.
Indeed, Goldschmidt’s $12.5MM salary is well below the three-year, $60MM guarantee Walker received from Houston and the five-year, $125MM deal MLBTR predicted for Alonso. It’s also below the one-year, $15MM pact we predicted for Goldschmidt when we ranked him at no. 35 on our Top 50 Free Agents list.
Goldschmidt, 37, was a free agent for the first time in his career. Drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2009, he made his big league debut with Arizona in 2011. After a strong start to his MLB career, he signed an extension with the D-backs that kept him under team control through the 2019 season. Upon being traded to the Cardinals in 2019, he signed another extension that ran through 2024. Through those years with Arizona and St. Louis, Goldschmidt was one of the best players in baseball. He made seven All-Star teams, won five Silver Sluggers, and earned NL MVP honors in 2022. Over 1928 career games, he has slashed .289/.381/.510 with 362 home runs and a 139 wRC+.
Since his MVP season in 2022, Goldschmidt has taken a few steps back. His .810 OPS and 122 wRC+ in 2023 were more good than great, while his .716 OPS and 100 wRC+ in 2024 were merely league average. That’s not an encouraging trend for a first baseman entering his late thirties. However, Goldschmidt’s underlying numbers in 2024 offer a little more promise. His .308 batting average on balls in play was well below his career average of .343. Similarly, his .310 wOBA was noticeably worse than his .329 xwOBA. A .329 wOBA still would have been the worst of his career, but it also would have been significantly better than league average. Finally, Goldschmidt’s second-half performance was vastly superior to his first-half effort. Through the All-Star break, he was slashing .230/.291/.373 with an 87 wRC+. From the break onward, he hit .271/.319/.480 with a 120 wRC+.
The Yankees are surely hoping Goldschmidt looks like his second-half self throughout the 2025 season. However, even his mediocre full-season numbers would be a big upgrade over what the Yankees got from their first basemen in 2024. Yankees first basemen ranked last in MLB in OPS (.619), second-to-last in wRC+ (76), and 26th in FanGraphs WAR (-1.1). If Goldschmidt can simply repeat his 2024 campaign, the Yankees would get a big boost over the combination of Anthony Rizzo, Ben Rice, and DJ LeMahieu. That will be especially true against left-handed pitching. Goldschmidt slashed .295/.366/.473 with a 134 wRC+ against lefties this past season. Meanwhile, New York’s offense was significantly worse against lefties than righties. Goldschmidt should be a big help in that department.
On the defensive side, Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner, will undoubtedly play first base for the Yankees. That will push recent trade acquisition Cody Bellinger into the outfield. It always seemed likely that Bellinger would play the outfield in New York, but manager Aaron Boone suggested earlier this week that first base was still an option. It’s safe to say that option is now off the table.
If the Yankees are still looking to add another bat, third base could be the next avenue they turn to for improvement. Jazz Chisholm Jr. took over at the hot corner after the trade deadline in 2024, but second base is his natural position. By sliding back to second, he could give the Yankees more flexibility to seek an upgrade in the infield. Some intriguing options at third base include free agent Alex Bregman and trade candidate Nolan Arenado. The Yankees have already expressed interest in both players.
Adding either Bregman or Arenado would likely push the team’s payroll above last year’s final estimate of $303MM (per RosterResource). It would also put them above the highest tier of the luxury tax once again. Although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Yankees run such a high payroll in 2025, it’s worth keeping in mind that even the Steinbrenner’s have their spending limits. Chairman Hal Steinbrenner said earlier this year that the team’s current payroll is “simply not sustainable for us financially.” The fact that the Yankees were outbid for Juan Soto and that they were seeking a less expensive first baseman like Goldschmidt further suggests that GM Brian Cashman is working under payroll constraints. Those constraints could impact how the team operates for the rest of the offseason.
Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the Yankees and Goldschmidt had agreed to a one-year deal. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was first on the salary.
Image courtesy of Imagn.
Wonderful
Totally makes sense, Yanks are better than 2024
No they are not.
mack22: Not a nyy fan by any stretch, but they’re doing the right thing: Take the Soto money and fill some holes. Now, if they get Bregman, they’ll be very hard to beat.
Bergman’s just another long term deal that will weight them down for years. Totally overrated
They should try and get Nolan from
The cardinals; see if he would waive his no trade claus.l
@metsin4
Rent free…
Come on man! Im a Mets fan too but you have to be objective as a baseball fan. Yankees are much improved over last year. Mets are marginally better in the lineup but the pitching is a disaster so far this offseason….
Does his contract have a sanity clause?
This combo didn’t work too well for the cardinals the last few years – seems like a good plan if the goal is to not return to the World Series
??? I think Yankee fans think people care about them way more than reality. Congrats on your offseason of signing has been players because the Mets got in your heads by taking a vastly superior player from you.
I am a Braves fan I totally agree better than last year and will probably get a few minor parts still
They signed two has been players. They don’t compare even close to losing Soto. Fans get all hyped about name recognition and could care less about how good they are anymore. Fried is good but injury prone and is crazy to give an 8 year contract to.
Uhhh, the Yankees offered Marcus Stroman for Arenado but STL turned it down.
You can’t fool me, there ain’t no sanity clause.
You’re right- Belli and Fried are completely washed up and who is this closer Williams… oh yeah just one of the best in the game right now… Enjoy Soto- I am quite happy right now.
Cards had nothing around them, and no pitching. The Yankees have pitching and a good lineup around them. They wouldn’t be expected to carry significant weight, which means they would likely be more productive with lower pressure. It’s a much better situation. The Cards’ situation isn’t comparable at all.
A great one dimensional player vastly overpaid. Enjoy worrying every time a ball is hit in his direction or watching his two foot lead at first. And yes I speak from experience being worried or annoyed with him last year every time he wasn’t in the box.
The rotation is extremely good with quality 1-5. The bullpen is strong. The lineup is deeper. The loss of Soto is steep, but they are upgrading nearly everywhere they lacked, and it will add up on stats replacing Soto.
I would rather play against the 2024 Yanks then this team for sure so far, and they aren’t done.
I would point out to Red Sox management that they are watching the Yankees do what a team that wants to win does. They are aggressively filling needs, dictating the market, and are pivoting quickly to other options on the run when plan A, B, C do not come through. This is a masterclass in commitment to addressing weaknesses and embarrassing for the Red Sox, who so far, have still not addressed 4 of their 5 “NEEDS” to compete seriously.
Judge replaces soto in rf, ok. How exactly does belli and goldy count as an imprvement over judge?
What is this in reference to exactly?
Ho Ho Ho
—Chico Marx
Ive had to cope many times too, thats why i find yankees fans using these coping mechanisms so hilarious. Unfortunately for them they dont get it yet
Soto is a generational player. Their pitching is stronger with Fried and Williams, their offense has taken a hit with the departure of Soto replacing them with the aging Goldschmidt and over rated over paid Bellinger who is still milking his 2019 year.
Firstly, you do not look at Judge replacing Soto. Soto is simply gone. Judge is Judge.
If the positive stats of all new players coming in plus who remains are better than last year, they came out ahead, if not, they didn’t. If the overall defense is better, good. If not, bad.
The Yankees need to replace 72 HR 233 RBI total to break even. Bellinger is moving to a joke right field and power alley. I expect him at 26 HR 90+ RBI as a floor. I expect Goldy to do about 23 HR 80 RBI as his floor. Already, that is 49 HR 170 RBI towards matching the missing stats. The Yankees are still shopping for a 2B/3B and outfielder. Those two additions have to simply add 23 HR and 63 RBI combined for the offense to be better than last years.
It is easier to look at it in total rather than just say Bellinger is replacing Soto, or Goldy is replacing Rizzo.
Cards started the season with more WS winners in their lineup and rotation than the yankees
Lmao
Metsin4,
Yankees have added 3.5 WAR in position players and lost 7.9 from Soto alone. A total of 10.3 WAR lost to position players. A net 6.8 WAR lost.
On the pitching side they added 5.0 WAR and lost 4.8 WAR. A net 0.2 WAR gain.
Its December, so they do have time to add.
Not factoring in inevitable declines from the older players, 35 yr old Stanton/33 yr old Judge/38 yr old Goldschmidt, the Yankees are down 6+ wins as of today.
You have to subtract the WAR lost via the extra roster spots you get dividing a superstar into multiple pieces. Unless 1b was a negative war last year?
Look at you, you obviously care enough to make bad and absolutely wrong takes about them every chance you get.
FACTS: YANKEES ARE BETTER ALREADY THAN THIS PAST SEASON.
Any actual baseball fan with any actual baseball knowledge will agree.
Ok but u understand thats based on faith, not stats or reality
also factor in Jasson Dominguez in the relacement sectrum
U are making a lot of assumptions based on your “expectation.” Let me know if you have insight into the future that eludes the rest of us.
This is some pretty significant projection right here, kind red-haired sir.
Fried is not injury prone, you give a guy a big contract when you need a guy, and their paying Fried until hes 38 and your Mets have Soto till he’s 41 so age can’t account into it, as a Cubs fan Bellinger is a great add for them they can spend 700 million dollars on 4-5 impact players, that’s better than one when the Mets have a 2 starter, and a big group of projects/lotto tickets/4 starters in their group buddy
@metsin4
We have no idea what any reality is in the future, but based on the here and now, on paper? Yes absolutely the Yanks are better thus far for 2025 than they were for 2024.
Goldy is better than the calvacade we had at first during the season, and absolutely better than man was supposed to play there all year, Rizzo.
Williams gives us one of the BEST closers in baseball. Cruz could be a solid #3 in that bullpen too.
Bellinger is a solid OF, he’s no Soto obviously on the stick, but better on the grass. I’ll also take his ability to play 1st as a positive too. Jasson possibly getting a full go is a plus, too, though we may yet get another OF, we’ll see.
Fried is like adding another ace while subtracting a number 4 in Nestor. I don’t care for his years, but we’re talking 2025 here.
And we still are adding an IF that more than likely will be better than Gleyber. (Though I don’t mind Torres personally)
So all we can talk about is on paper, but how does anyone look at that list and objectively think we not better already?
You might be the dumbest person on here.
So prove it. How is the lineup improved for the yankees exactly?
Got to take on more money and not offer a dead contract in return. They want to shed salary and no need for Stroman. That or offer some prospects to have more money covered by Cardinals
Yeah there’s a reason that doesn’t shed money for the cardinals they don’t want a dead contract back. If you want the cards to cover salary got to offer prospects than.
Lolz what exactly in my post is dumb???
Raymond, prove what??? What can say besides what I wrote already??? Lol, that’s on the players in season. Like i said ON PAPER, I think we are obviously better, pretty sure any fellow Yankees fan would agree. That’s the team WE follow day in, day out. I think we know better than any nonfan on the internet who only goes by stats in front of him. And anyway our lineup is incomplete. I’m talking about the team in total. Impossible to argue unless you are obviously just hating.
You’re joking right? Soto is a 1 tool player. He can hit/walk. After watching a full season of 162 games plus a postseason with him, I can assure you that is all he can do. He can’t field, he can’t run and although he has a decent arm, it is terribly inaccurate.
Without Judge to protect him in the lineup, I’d guess his walk numbers jump and his homers plummet next season. Can’t wait to see what Mets fans think of a $51 million dollar walk machine come next year.
As a Yankees fan…I agree. The signings are a net lose when compared to losing Soto.
Soto is a more than adequate RF’r. He is not great but you all make it seem like he sucks! Was a gold glove finalist this year. At the very least that makes him an average OFer.
How is this a masterclass!?!? Their pitching was top 10 in the mlb last year…meaning they did not NEED an SP. Losing one of the greatest hitters in baseball makes their offense a Huge need. All they did was turn Verdugo and Rizzo into Belli and Paul G who are barely above average hitters. We better hope Jasson is a superstar or we will have a bottom half offense. Think 2 years ago offense.
Soto was 38th percentile for overall fielding value last year. He is in the 14th percentile for range and is the 90th percentile for arm accuracy.
That is why he was a gold glove finalist last year- Yankee stadium RF is extremely short to both the corner and alley allowing him to utilize his arm without having to track into the gap or over his head often.
In a large RF in Queens, he will be in the bottom quartile for fielding.
You can’t just look at it that way! Not all stats are created equal. Soto was clutch and came through in the biggest situations. The anti ARod if you wish.
You can’t just spread those stats over multiple players. It’s like saying 3 walks in an inning are just as good as 3 singles. Even though both equal 3 bases, You are more likely to score a run with singles
@Scott Verdugo and post concussion Rizzo had wRC+ of 83 and 84. If Belli and Goldschmidt both post 105-120+ wRC+ seasons that goes a long way towards replacing the admittedly huge loss in production from Soto.
Now we have a full season of Jazz and potential power/speed from J Dom. With the added elite run prevention in Fried and D Williams, I’d have to imagine this team compares favorably to last years roster.
Scott odd that you chose the walk versus singles analogy to make your point considering how much Soto walks instead of putting the ball in play. The guy is batting about.285 but gets on base at .420 because of how much he walks.
The Yankees are objectively 6 wins worse than last year.
This is a Yanks post that you’re commenting in but you think we care about what the Mets do? The Mets were a 89 win team that finished 3rd in their dividing with a healthy Acuna in Atl’s lineup. You guys relaxed your 3 best starters with fill ins. You guys have a lot more work to do. At least the Yanks are stressing their issues.
Nolan perfect fit. Forget the Stroman garbage trade offer. Just take on majority of his salary and give a nothing return like they did Bellinger.
Cardinals didn’t have anything else. Nolan Goldy wasn’t the problem.
Definitely better than last year and better the next 5 to 15 years. Not signing Soto was their best move since drafting Judge.
@Psy
There is no replacing Soto. He’s one of a kind. So you can’t relabel him so you focus on improving the team not just one position.
Beli > Verdugo.
Judge fielding in RF > Soto
Goldschmidt > Rizzo
Williams > Holmes
Fried > Cortez + Stroman
Yanks still need to figure out 3b/2b by still out there shopping.
Seriously, what’s up with the sanity clause?
Combo of Goldschmidt and Arenado didn’t work with Alec Burleson and Dylan Carlson and Nolan Goreman and sub offensive hitters
Probably will work better with Judge and Chizzholm Bellinger and their new 3B
Just a wild guess though that a deeper lineup will help
Knicksfan Judge > Soto.
All Soto has on Judge is age and walks.
I agree with Chipper Jones that people are throwing the “generational” thing around too casually.
Can a player be generational if he’s the fourth and arguably the fifth best position player in the World Series? Judge, Ohtani and Betts are definitely better and a case can be made for Freeman as well.
Meanwhile, Juan Soto twists in the wind, with no protection anywhere in sight.
If the Mutts had done what the Yankees have done you would be tickled pink and rubbing your mitts together in anticipation of good things to come next season. You 100% trashing the Yankees moves is an easy to see indicator that you are very concerned about the NYY going forward. You’re lucky they are not in the NL East.
Lol yea i wanted bellinger and goldschmidt over soto. Yankee fans are hilarious
lmaooo ive seen yankee fans call soto all types of trash, overrated and one dimensional in the last week or so like they didnt want him back so bad lmaooo
What I’m saying is if you hadn’t gotten Soto, you would have been a lot more positive about the moves the Yankees have made if the Mets had made them. BTW, Belli and Goldy are both way better defenders than Soto and the Yankees got them on short term deals. You are stuck with Soto for the next FIFTHTEEN YEARS for 800 mil.+. He already sucks in the field and is slow afoot. You think Soto is going to be the same player in his thirties? Soto already has a weight problem. You can see his gut in all those press conference photos. Juan likes to eat. Juan is not only A hot Dog. He loves Hot Dogs. Wrapped in bacon and smothered in cheese and relish. Plus mama’s home cooking. Anyway, it’s all conjecture. What I know is the NYY will be a better, more well-rounded team in 2025 than they were in 2024. Without Juan Soto whose cost would have handicapped the NYY with improving other areas. And they are not done.
They really aren’t. Giving up Cortes for Williams rates to cost them a win, Fried projects to 3 WAR, Goldschmidt to 0.5 WAR, Bellinger’s a 2-3 win player. They still haven’t compensated for losing Soto, but somehow Cashman added close to $70m in payroll, and gave up a useful spare part in Poteet in the process.
Anyone who said “all you have to replace Soto is sign a few good players” didn’t think it through—or didn’t count on Cashman.
Who needs Juan Soso with Bellinger Fried Williams Goldschmidt and still more to come!
This Jack and Raymond guy give hiflew feverpitch Samuel etc a run for their $
Yeah, you got Soto, good for you, it definitely hurts.But you’re still the Mets. One way or another, they’ll figure out a way to Met the whole thing up.
Yes and by definition
@theonlydynasty I didn’t want Soto either, halfwit.
Ask mom to read the thread to you: The claim upthread was that the Yankees are better off as of today than they would have been just bringing back Soto.
It would make them a little too right-handed, but adding Arenado would still be great. Solid infield defense. Great character guys. Almost makes me want to root for the Yanks.
@jackstrawb never said i didn’t want Soto. Just said that the Mets will still do what they always do. Met the whole thing up.
The Yankees drove up the price on Soto $150,000,000 more than they were EVER going to even consider paying, and then dropped him on the Mets. It was all by design.
Soto can’t field. Can’t run. Can’t steal bases. Can’t throw.
If belly & goldy hit .240 & hit 20HR each they will have outstanding production from those two that is vastly superior to the players they have replaced.
Vegas what about a Santa Clause?
I was rather ambivalent about resigning Soto. The Yanks have a history of agreeing to long contracts that become burdens. While Soto was very good for NY last year, the length and cost of his required contract was a real concern. So, I was not crushed when Soto signed with the Mets, but rather relieved and with the move the Yanks have made since, pleasantly satisfied and waiting for a couple more.
Weak…
Absolutely. I’m not saying that the moves NY has made are all surefire slam dunks. But they have the potential to be helpful and so far, I like them all. And other than Fried, none of them are long term commitments.
No player is worth the contract and the end of their careers. Fried will give the Yankees 4 -5 good years. Soto maybe 9-11 good years.
Maybe….More will be revealed.
Ignorance, Belli was a -1 DRS. Soto was a -1 DRS. Goldy was 0 DRS.
1.78 IQ. Your tin foil hat is showing.
Sounds like signing Soto got in YOUR head, bud.
How shocking!
Of course they will better. Max Fried would be a #1 on 20 teams. Williams would be the closer on 30 teams, Bellinger is a very good Centerfielder and moving Judge to right upgrades the outfield defensively. Goldschmidt is an upgrade on both sides at 1st. The young guys Volpe, Wells, Jazz, and Domínguez will have another year of experience. I would take the sum of the improvements in a heartbeat over spending outrageously to retain a great hitter who is mediocre defensively for the next 15 years.
Rizzo wasn’t Keith Hernandez, but he was one of the best in the last 20 years. Goldy is a fine. This is a slight downgrade defensively, but an all-around upgrade on a one year.
You can’t fool me! There ain’t no Sanity Claus.
Lol seriously is this a thing?
FACT: Yankees are 0-0 like everyone else.
FACT: we won’t know if they’re better until months from now.
FACT: their fans are gasp bags who love to throw dangerous objects at opposing players and boo their own overpaid underperformers.
Everyone knows there is no Sanity Clause
That is true but now that Goldy is a yankee that has been said will change his heart on waving the NTC. I see Arenado deal getting done now. Bregman will cost too much. At least with arenado hes off the table in 3 years not 6 or 7.
I’m sure the Mets will have Soto work on his defense and have a dietitian and strength coach work with him this winter. That’s a big investment and commitment they’ve placed on this guy. I think Stearns will try getting Alonso back, but if not, they can fall back on Bregman to play 3rd and move Vientos to first. Remember they have Mauricio and Baty who can fill in at third. Right now they should try figuring out there starting pitching and bullpen before it gets to late.
#Polarbear99 I had to thumbs up to 20 as a long time Mets fan myself. Yanks will definitely be better; like you said be objective be serious
#SonnySteele Aint no such thing as a Santaty Claus!
Would expect a Met fan to say that!
@A. Judge Boasting of an ‘upgrade’ over Rizzo is amusing. Buy Jon Berti a 1Bman’s mitt and at 35 he’d be an upgrade over Rizzo.
It’s almost as if you ignored what the Yankees surrendered in trade plus the payroll they’re committing… oh, wait, that’s exactly what you did.
–Fried 8/218m, $27.5m AAV, 3.4 WAR
–Bellinger 1/32.5m or 2/57.5m, $30m, 2.2
–D. Williams 1/10m, $10m, 1.7
–Goldschmidt 1/12.5m, $12.5, 1.4
That’s 80m in new salary, plus in Cortes and Poteet they’ve traded away a hair over 2 wins.
Projections:
Cumulative gain for the 2025 Yankees 6.6 WAR
Soto 6.8 WAR
Yankees in 2025 vs 2024: negative 0.2 WAR
Call it breaking even.
Salaries
New Yankees: $80m in 2025
Soto: $51m in 2025.
Yeah, that’s not a “better” team in 2025—by any stretch.
@Canosucks Be objective? Get serious:
–Fried 8/218m, $27.5m AAV, 3.4 WAR
–Bellinger 1/32.5m or 2/57.5m, $30m, 2.2
–D. Williams 1/10m, $10m, 1.7
–Goldschmidt 1/12.5m, $12.5, 1.4
That’s 80m in new salary, plus in Cortes and Poteet they’ve traded away a hair over 2 wins.
Projections for 2025:
Cumulative gain for the 2025 Yankees: 6.6 WAR
Soto: 6.8 WAR
Yankees in 2025 vs 2024: negative 0.2 WAR
Call it breaking even.
Salaries:
New Yankees: $80m in 2025
Soto: $51m in 2025.
Yeah, that’s not a “better” team in 2025—by any stretch.
How about 2026?
Fried 27.5m, 3.3 WAR
Bellinger 27.5m 2.0 WAR
Soto 51m, 6.9 WAR
Nope, you still lose. Be objective. Words to live by.
He’d be the best hitting & fielding infielder they’ve had since jeter.
Looking at all those number sells looks like the Yankees made the right move. Soto isn’t hitting in a line up with Judge and Big G. They don’t have to even go after Soto in that line up. Watch Soto’s walks go up. And hits go down. He’s gonna be treated like bonds.
They are far better now than they were with Soto.
2025 Yankees have less holes in the lineup, better pitching and better defense. They will be better. Mets fans want to make everyone think losing Soto was the end of the world for them. Wrong
Chico was the man.
The dude struck out 173 times last year, he is approaching 2,000 strike outs in his career.
173 strikeouts is not exactly an eye-popping total in today’s game. No one cares if you strike out if you produce. He had significantly high strikeout totals back when he was one of the best in the game, so again, strikeouts are basically meaningless in today’s game. He’s not what he used to be, but he was great hitting lower in the order for the Cards, where there was less pressure to carry the load – something he can do in NY as well. Should be a solid add.
Dude’s career BA is around .290. Guy gets on base and rakes. 173 SO’s isn’t too crazy. Look what they did with judge. I’m not saying they have time to fix Goldy but ya never know.
Compare goody and jeter’s stats. Maybe cano?
Agreed and I am a Red Sox fan. They added a quality arm to the rotation. They stabilized 1B and Goldschmidt is still a good defender. In that lineup he should be able to repeat his age 35 numbers. Bellinger improves the defense in CF and another guy who should do well in that lineup and park. The latter two are good veteran bats and gloves.
As a Sox fan, Breslow all talk, ok they got Crochet… we’ll see what they do… They’re not signing Bregman, working on the fringes… signing Sandoval, coming off of Tommy John surgery is all you need to know…. They need to realign, Devers defensively is tough, they need a big time bat to protect Devers… Just saying….
Crochet adds more than Fried.
4.1 WAR vs 3.5 WAR.
Chapman. Narvaez. The return of Giolito.
Red Sox are moving in a positive direction, but need to add a 3B so Devers can move to DH, a 2B, and possibly one more SP.
Fried could easily add more. Crochet was electric for half a season. How he holds up for a full season of real starts in a rotation is anyone’s guess. He might end up being Tyler Glasnow.
Reality not what might be. Crochet had 4.1 WAR. Fried had 3.5 WAR. That is what actually happened. Crochet adds more based on what he actually did on the field last year.
Nope, not even close.
You’re right another one as a Jay fan Atkins And Shapiro sitting on their asses ,sleeping on an opportunity . But choose to sign minor leaguers continuously .
Lol
Bellinger is 29, so he is a “has been”? Goldy may not be the greatest signing, but Bellinger/Fried/Williams is far superior to the hit first Soto, who was a liability in RF and can’t run the bases well. If Soto degrades at all on the one tool he has, which has been shown to be true in MANY stars as they age, he will be a bad signing. He is one injury away, and has 15 years to have it.
Fried is a lot more risk at 8 years than Soto at 15. Let’s put it this way would the Yankees give them all back for a returning Soto? In a heart beat.
Ummm, 8 is less than 15 last I did the math on, and it was less than half the cost. What math are you doing?
No chance. Making yourself feel better. Vast majority of Yankee fans are feeling very good right now.
Anyone else seeing that Ricky Henderson passed away?
By losing Soto and signing a washed up player?
They’re much better on both sides of the ball. Defense is much better and they will actually get some form of offense from 1b and there’s no lag in production in the lineup. I think they’re going to try and trade for McMahon from Colorado. If they get him, this team is looking deadly on paper.
“Yanks are better than 2024” is my favorite MLBTR meme going into the New Year.
N̈o doubt about that
Pete Alonso better grovel back to Cohen now. Mariners and Dbacks are not going to offer Alonso 4 years/$100 or 3 years/$90.
I think Detroit might actually sign Alonso. It appears Torkleson will see his time split between DH and some part-time starts at First Base giving Alonso some starts as DH.
That’s a tough stadium for power hitters… Pete’s best bet is to work out a deal out w/ Mets.. Mets will go in a different direction, short term deal w/ free agent or trade for a first baseman if Boras strings this out…. If Pete takes a short term deal somewhere and has an off season, he’s in trouble…
I call Boras with a low ball offer and say take it now or I am signing Santana. He will refuse. Some team will give Pete a pillow contract. Should have taken the extension Pete. Then again you never knkw what stuoid move these gms will make.
Grovel may be mildly overstated, although my first thought when seeing the headline to this article was “Alonso is quickly losing his market”. He may end up with a decision of Mets or a pillow (contract).
Gator
Concur. Maybe the Nats will swoop in, but I am guessing the Mets offer Alonso a short deal with really high AAV, maybe three years snf $90 million with opt outs after years one and two. And Nats offer four years at $100 million.
An organization wanting to win. Kudos Yankees!
Padres.you have to spend if you want to win.
Spend some coin Kutsenda, please.
Ahhh, the Padres no longer have a mentally-compromised mancrush-ravaged owner any longer. He did leave the team with an anchor around its neck and he threw them into the deep end of the pool.
Crikes
Most fans would adore an owner who pushed the envelope to try to win. The Padres are now an exciting franchise and in the 2024 postseason, they looked like the second best team to the Dodgers. Let’s see whether they trade Cease before you write their obituary.
Yikes, Crikes and trikes… terrible post as usual from you. Go to bed Already!
@mlb.
Who says crikes before writing a ignorant post. I guess you do.
Rex
Or someone replying to a post authored by “Crikes”
towin, towin, towin… need I remind you about the patience we always talk about? Did you *really* want to sign Goldy or are you just trolling at this point?!? The 40 Man is almost full. Sit tight (and maybe even on your hands…!) because it’s going to be a “slow” offseason!! The roster is almost set- just need 1 SP, 1 UTIL/INF and 1 OFer. Relax buddy.
Padres owner wanted to win while he was still here to see it. That’s awesome to had a owner who actually cared about winning so much. But some of the worst contracts ever and the fanbase got a taste of big spending and now have to go through withdrawal. 300m payroll you can absorb some bad $. Under 200m is a challenge.
I like this move for the Yankees.
I didn’t think Goldie would ever sign in New York considering he’s not a fan of the media. But good for him and I hope he wins his championship with them next year he deserves it.
All these additions and the Yankees have still not replaced Soto’s WAR.
But they have added household names with midling production and overpayed an oft injured pitcher
Soto’s WAR didn’t win them the World Series. Go back to bed.
Judge and Torres’s gloves lost them the WS that Soto’s bat got them to.
The Yankees have gotten themselves a Class Act.
$12.5m for Goldy is better than $12m for Santana for sure. Yankees got a deal.
A million here a million there soon we’re talking real money!
Yes, it is. They can trade him to Toronto along with a few of their best prospects for Vlad Jr. and sign him for about $6000000.
Yankees acting like a team wanting to win.
Yanks going with the all budget ex-star lineup? Soto to Mets; 8 years to Fried, Goldy and Belli to Yankees, the role reversal complete. Yankees being run by the Wilpons now?
All that matters is he’s a big name.
I mean their payroll is over 300 million. Not sure I would call that budget…
They have done relatively well this offseason. Can’t really complain. At least I can’t.
I wouldnt complain exactly. But i didnt when it was the mets making those moves either. I lived through moves like that for 3 decades. They can and will compete imo
Raymond: But would you complain approximately?
No i would be a little uneasy hoping for former glories tho
Which New York team will sign Bregman? Not many dance cards remaining.
Detroit is not in New York 😉
Motor
Hope you are right, but I doubt it.
He’s not signing with Detroit. They learned a lesson with Baez.
Bregman doesn’t suck that bad lol and obviously got the AJ Hinch connection but that be the only reason I could see it
Neither
Boston is not in New York.
I pray it isn’t the Yankees.
I still think Bregman wants as much money as possible- which, there is zero wrong with that it’s a business after all, but his upside is limited to about 0-4 years at this point and he’s focused on reaching or exceeding the $200M threshold on any deal and all teams in serious contention are gonna stay away from him on the long term deal that’d require, so he is likely to wind up somewhere like Detroit or Arizona, where they have cash to burn but no takers and are in need of looking like they’re trying to compete.
Looking like they are trying to compete? Arizona was in tbe WS 2 years ago and the Tigers were amongst the final four in the AL this year?
Yankees went to the WS last year with corpses at first base, regardless that’s he’s old he’s still an upgrade for their team
Yeah this is far from the worst move they could’ve made.
Far from the best either.
I dont think there really was any great options at first. Just a lot of older and declining players.
Sin4, what would be the best?
If he and Rice are both rostered it’s a fine move. Rice is gonna be a player in this league.
Says a Mets fan whose jealousy just won’t allow any objective comments……the Yankee roster is now more balanced than last season….get a life will you
Aw took the bait did you?
Its not bad but they could have made a moe that would give them abetter chance this year. They wetwth the cheap ex star instead
Lol awwww. Ive said several times i think goldy will be decent
You can’t get any older at 1B
This gives them the opportunity to go for Vlad next year and upgrade this year.
I was wrong. They could have signed Santana.
Yanks now have Goldy, Rice, DJ, and Bellinger at first! That’s a good combo! If DJ is healthy again he could be a key piece in 25. What’s next for Cashman, he is wheeling and dealing.
slider32: A third baseman?
Slider: Rice can catch or caddy with Goldschmidt. Bellinger isn’t seeing the infield unless there’s injuries. DJ Le-Groundout is an issue. They might try him at 2nd until he gets hurt.
DJ was hurt last year, he might surprise this year!
Yankees went to the WS with virtually zero production from 1B, LF, 2B (3/4 season) and 3B (3/4 season) a Closer who blew mlb high 14 saves and Cole missing 2/3 season! The moves they made are quantity and quality over Soto solely so they are significantly upgraded across the board plus Rice will continue to get reps at 1B possibly platoon with Goldy meaning DJ will need to be released.
Rice will spend more time in AAA and also as a C probably
The closer blew 14 saves because of the phantom ghost runner in extra innings. If your team scores is run in extra innings and you give up there toeing run in the bottom is it really a blown save with the runner at second rule?
Metsin4, what?
If DJ doesn’t have a no-trade clause, I can see him being traded to the A’s since they need to hit a ~$105M payroll number to continue to receive revenue sharing (part of the conditions of allowing their move).
That;s fine, it’s called depth!
They just signed another corpse at 1B. Just staying with their pattern at the position, right?
He was still an average bat last year, don’t get carried away
Goldy was a 1.3 WAR player with a 98 OPS+.
That is below average for both.
Rizzo was a 94 OPS+ in 2023. So similar to Goldy, but younger.
Pads: You’re overlooking (perhaps intentionally) that Rizzo didn’t crack 100 games in either of the last 2 seasons. That concussion did a number on him, he became a terrible fielder. So… always hurt, no power, and terrible D isn’t the recipe for success at 1st base. Goldschmidt needs to catch the ball, pop an occasional homer, and be able to take the field and he will be leaps and bounds better than Rizzo.
thats not actually how you get value tho. plenty of hr hitters get benched
Rizzo was better on defense. 2 DRS vs 0 for Goldschmidt.
Baseball: Did you watch Yankee games? He’s been terrible since the concussion. Missed scoops, no range, a shadow of what he was pre-concussion. I don’t watch the Cards but unless Goldy is terrible at D he has to be better than Rizzo. Defensive stats are not an exact science, perhaps the Yankees groundball oriented staff helped make Rizzo look better statistically than he played?
Goldy had 100 wrc+ last year, that is very literally an average hitter.
Rizzo was 16% worse than average.
So not similar at all, and younger by 2 years doesn’t really matter on a 1 year deal especially when Rizzo hasn’t been healthy the last few
It could be viewed however that goldy is likely to give less than what was expected from rizzo last year. There are no good reasons imo to assume the yankees are better on paper this season than last. On paper theyre actually quite a bit worse on offense at least.
Not so sure about that, far from a Yankee fan.
But a full year of Jazz and Dominguez is meaningful, then Goldy is an improvement and so is Bellinger. Obviously none are going to come close to Soto’s production, but the lineup has a chances to be much deeper and more well rounded.
+ their pitching has improved. It’s a good team on paper, they’ve had a nice offseason
As ive asked a million times @dusty and no one ever seems to explain
How is belli and goldy an improvement over rizzo and soto? Its absurd to argue on paper the yankees lineup has improved so far. Besides judge approaching his attrition date, and that stanton is held together with duck tape
You can’t look at it as a 2 for 2 swap because Soto is going to win that battle over almost every player.
But when you add a full year of jazz, full year of Dominguez, then belli and Goldy the lineup is much longer. Last year offensively all they had was 1-3, this year they should be more balanced and an overall deeper lineup
Raymond: Now do Bellinger and Goldy compared to Verdugo and Rizzo… You’re here to hammer on the Yankees not for an intellectually honest discussion. Feel free to compare Holmes V. Williams and Fried V. Poteet if you want additional points of reference.
Dominguez has proven nothing. U had jazz already and jazz without improvment is a 1.5-3 WAR player. You can hope the lineup improves but there is nothing even close to a guarantee of that, and it seems clear to me its still a step backwards. Belli is extremely far rom a sure thing. Right now he is 5050 to lay an egg. And there are a number of players youre banking on that are getting mighty long in the tooth
Lol how is that honest first of all. I am talking about the lineup, u wanna ignore the loss of aleague best hitter. Going into the year theres no proof verdugo rizzo were worse than belli goldy anyway, not that the comp makes sense. U replaced judge with belli in CF. U replaced soto with judge. Theres still a leaue best hitter missng however you slkce it
We can do pitching if you like. Williams literally ended his teams season against nym.
But my only point was hitting and youre offering a false narrative.
And nonifnyou read more of my comments im not here to “only bash the yankees” i quite clesrly said several times that i think goldy will be league average and he fills a hole for nyy. Belli might be decent, but he also often stinks. Do the fair comp, the real one, and get back to me if u wanna do pitching, but im not gonna debate it with someone being dishonest
Raymond: Assume you’re talking to me… I’m certainly not discounting the loss of Soto. You’re discounting the replacement of 2 terrible players with a guy likely to have a great year (Bellinger) and a guy who while fading should be able to be a positive contributor. There’s also a good chance Dominquez can contribute at least a 2 WAR season. Add a full year of Jazz, and more Wells suddenly the offense looks like it belongs in the back half of the top 10.
I think both Judge and Soto will take steps back next year. They won’t protect each other, and Soto loses the short porch.
With the pitching additions, the Yankees are now better than last year. You want to fixate on losing Soto as if we’re in a vacuum here.
Dude just stop. You’re obsessed and use no data or facts.
We get it you don’t like the yanks offseason or lineup. Doesn’t change anything and you writing 300 words about your emotions as to why isn’t going to change any minds.
As of now Yanks lineup will fight with the O’s for the division, your feelings aren’t going to change that
Raymond: Here you go.
WAR lost Soto 7.9, Verdugo .8, Rizzo .2
Fangraphs Projections for Goldschmidt 1.9, Bellinger 2.5, Dominquez 2.3
With those 3 player changes the Yankees PROJECT to lose 2.2 WAR.
Jazz gave the team 1.5 WAR and is projected for 3.3
Wells gave 2.5 and is projected for 3.5
As I said in my last post a full year of Wells and Jazz should make up the difference, based on projections it does. They project to add 2.8 additional WAR above last years totals. Dealing just with these players discussed the Yankees project to be .6 WAR ahead of last years totals.
The game isn’t played based on projections but you can see why fans of the team are not ready to quit. The pitching staff is greatly improved. The offense will miss Soto’s unique talents but seem to be set up to absorb the loss by adding better supporting players and getting fuller years from young up and coming players.
Rizzo and Verdugo blew in 23 so them continuing that trend in 24 wasn’t a surprise. You can’t replace Soto so you try to make incremental improvements.
The only uncertainty now is do they get a guy for 2nd or 3rd. Jazz moves to 2nd or stays at 3rd depending. I predict another 90+ wins, we’ll see what happens past that.
Dusty, they still will not have replaced Soto even with all of those players. They are still down several wins.
Yankees have added 3.5 WAR in position players and lost 7.9 from Soto alone. Adding in a full year of Chisholm is only 1.2 WAR and the Yankees don’t gain over what they got from Cabrera and Berti.
Its still a total of 10.3 WAR lost for position players. A net 6.8 WAR lost.
On the pitching side they added 5.0 WAR and lost 4.8 WAR. A net 0.2 WAR gain.
Older players including a 35 year old Stanton, 33 year old Judge, and 37 year old Goldschmidt does mean inevitable declines. Not counting those declines, the Yankees are down 6+ wins as of today.
Cashman has lots of time and a huge number of free agents still available.
Projections? Please! Use their actual performance like you did for the players lost.
The Yankees are 6 wins lower overall today.
In all seriousness- all the other options weren’t much better despite a little bit of youth compared to Walker, etc. and they’d have all required the Yankees giving up draft picks, committing multiple years to aging players, etc.
Ultimately one year of Goldschmidt is most long term strategic move over the other options across the board- internal, external trades, other free agents, etc.
*compared to Goldschmidt- sorry, multi-tasking with the SMU vs Penn State game on the television.
Yanks are building a team. The Mets only cared aboht signing the biggest name. Mets could have used fried… as their ACE. or snell… or
Burnes. But their big pitching addition is Frankie montas. A Yankee failure.
That’s what was said about Severino last year.
If you say so. The Mets look more like the Angels than a serious contender for the NL East. They have one good offensive player with no protection in the line-up and no pitching. Griffin Canning, Frankie Montas, and Clay Holmes, are not exactly Garret Cole, Max Fried, and Carlos Rodon, with an emerging Clark Schmidt, and the AL rookie of the year in Luis Gil. The odd man out in the Yankee’s rotation, Stroman, would be the Mets’ best starter. What the hell is a Met?
He was 11-7 with a 1.6 WAR. Wow! You really showed us!! I guess the fact that he wasn’t injured was a change, but he was literally one and a half wins above replacement.
Bah, the Yankees have added all big names, Devin Williams, Bellinger, Fried, Goldschmidt – all the biggest names.
Fried was the worst contract of the off season outside of the contract the Mets gave Soto. Fried has a history of injuries and the Yankees will be paying him 30M+ for six years …. the six years after the ’26 season. The Frankie Montas deal is far and away a better contract. There is a good chance that Montas will be as good or better than Fried over the next three seasons.
miller79, I’ll take that bet.
Oh please….Frankie Montas is not better than Fried making only 15 starts…..lets start the betting on your comment that Montas will be better than Fried over the next 3 seasons…..hope you don’t need the money!
Well ok, I don’t have anything to bet, so can’t bet, but I think Fried’s arm is more cooked than Montas’s arm, that’s what I base my assumption on.
Now I can’t say for certain but I did listen to all the Braves games last season, and although Fried had a decent September, there was a noticeable difference between his effectiveness before his latest injury and after his return from injury. That difference was seemingly in his confidence and the teams confidence in his starts. Hard to say how you can read into that listening to the radio but I picked up on something.
As far as Montas goes, I didn’t listen to or watch a single game of his last season, but have always liked his mechanics and his build, at 6’2 250 he reminds me a little of Bartolo Colon. I think Montas is going to be come back player of the year.
Lmao the salt still burning?
Mets are smart and building this team the way they want. Signing pitchers to long term deals rarely work out. They will most likely get Alonso back on a friendly team deal. And keep adding over the years. Soto is 26 so if it takes a year or two to build around him that’s fine. Still leaves a good 3-5 year window where Soto will still be in his prime.
The draft picks hurt the Polar Bear!
Yea because impulsive strings of moves to plan c are always much better than patient well capitalized management
“Run by Wilpons now”…When did you ever see the Wilpons run a $300M+ payroll? The Yankees do that consistently. Other than not signing Soto, the Yankees have a had a pretty good off-season in my opinion.
I really don’t get the incessant complaints. I’m guessing at least 25 other teams would gladly trade their own off-season for the Yankees off-season.
Welcome to the back of the line. Always some ancient stars to sign after the big boy brings in the big fish
spot on. it filled most of their needs. And then not stuck with long-term contracts either. Next year they can regroup and fill whatever positions are still needed like for space if Ben Rice is not developed.
They probaly would. Obviously the yankees are covering their loss decently, until the reasons this wasnt plan A put a damper on the enthusiasm for dumpster diving and overpaying
Quoting inflationary numbers is irrelevant
Yanks saving spot for Vlad Jr next year. No better player would take 1 year deal.
Don’t think so….Vlad isn’t half the player his dad was…..and the NY press would eat him alive….and there would be a lot to eat given his girth too…LOL
Raymond: Fried was not a budget signing.
Yea but i wasnt gon a write an essay. It was more about how each move looks exactly like how the wilpons would have reacted to yankees getting soto. Bring in as many names as u can and overpay to get it done
@Ray
What a bad comparison. I don’t like the move either, but it appears as if the Yanks have improved at 1b, LF, the starting staff, and bullpen and likely aren’t done yet. The Mets signed Soto and have been shopping in the scratch and dent section all winter since then.
That being said were Santana, Profar, Santander THAT expensive to get? I wouldn’t been been chill with keeping Belli at 1B and signing Jesse Winker to play LF.
Brain dead take
Hah. Outside of Soto, the Mets are still the Mets. Haven’t done much else.
vikingbluejay67: Have the Mets missed any deadlines for making moves?
Baron
Agree that if the Mets are done for the hot stove that I am not impressed, but I very much doubt that they are done.
The Nets do not yet have a playoff caliber rotation, but they could easily grab Alonso and Bregman if they want.
Mets not Nets
I’m sure the Mets have more moves to make, no doubt. But up to now the Yankees have been doing more to fill holes than the Mets. That’s all I’m saying.
“Doing more” is not a goal. Espcially when “doing things” is adding aging, damaged, or questionable players
The Angels also surrounded Mike Trout and Ohtani with bulldogs like Griffin Canning, and it didn’t work out for them. I’m sure the Mets have more moves to make, but they are also filling up their rotation with guys that wouldn’t make the Yankees roster. Just an observation.
Yankees dont have the money to spend on non ex superstars lol
No. I guess they can sign guys in April like Snell and Montgomery last year. They didn’t sign Montas, Holmes, and Canning to not make 3/5 of their starting rotation. I’m not questioning the moves that they haven’t made, I am wondering about the ones they have made. Seems like a weird plan to me. Maybe they are geniuses and Canning and Holmes will be battling for a CY Young with Frankie Montas??
Bregman and Burns are the 2 big prizes left! Cohen is in on both of them
Cashman is wheeling and dealing, but Cohen got Soto! Both did very well so far this winter.
Judge!
“Haven’t done much else”..The Mets gave Soto a historically large, near $800M contract and you say “not much else?”.
Isn’t that a bit like saying “outside of the one serious tragedy, the Titanic had a perfect safety record?”.
No you see what you do is you add up all the WARs on the yankees, then you compare it to Soto’s 7, and then you say clearly the yankees have succeeded.
Soto ain’t gonna win a World Series by himself. Mets still need to make improvements. Yankees have done more so far.
I like the Yankees sending in different positions that just Soto. Even the Mets still more pieces to be a solid team
I’m not a fan of either team but I’d rather have Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Devin Williams and Jonathan Lasagna over Soto, Montas, and Canning.
“But I’d rather have”..You are correct; sir. Spreading your money around(instead of to 1 guy)is always a better move than investing everything into one guy.
Thats actually pure nonsense. Its always better to have the star and then the other players are your advantage. If all your addons are to match the production of the star you have no margin to improve
As biased as that comp is its certainly not in any way clear that its true. @jesse
The Mets have to beat the Dodgers!
slider32: Not in December.
Soto (7.9), Siri (1.8), Senga (4.5), Montas (0.6), Holmes (0.7 as reliever), and Canning (0.3). Senga, a top 5 SP in 2023, was out almost all of last season (5.1 IP) so he is an addition many are missing.
14 WAR total added. 4 WAR, including Alonso, in position player WAR lost. 6.1 WAR lost on the pitching side. So far, the Mets are up 3-4 WAR for 2025. The offseason is not over yet. I don’t think Stearns and Cohen are done.
Except Holmes will personally lose you 10 of those games on the mound.
Oh please… the Mets rotation is straight trash. I wouldn’t want one of them over the Yankees 4th and 5th starters.
Yeah, tis a shame Soto doesn’t pitch too. Mets fan drinkin dat Kool-Aid….
It was actually Flavor-Aid. The People’s Temple was too cheap for Kool-Aid.
Senga when healthy is better then any Yankee starter
Cole when healthy is as good as senga healthy imo
That’s insane. Come on. Senga at peak form is not better than Cole or even Fried. Stop it. I’m a huge Senga fan. He’s a #3 or lower on the Yankees.
Nonsense. Besides we’re talking minute irrelevant differences, what will matter is who stays healthy and none of them are a good bet. Certsinly not an 8 year bet
@melfman, I like this take even though I think the Mets rotation is going to be better than it looks on paper. I especially like it if they call up Sproat and he cuts down the walks. Sproat could be MLB’s best pitching prospect.
Senga and Montas could avoid injuries and have their best years.
Clay Holmes could have a Seth Lugo type of transition from the bullpen to the rotation.
That’s four big ifs.
And then it’s Blackburn, Peterson, MeGill, and potentially Tidwell.
Could be real choppy.
Raymond
Devin Williams, Max Fried and Cody Bellinger does not equal the Wilpons
At this point, Josh Bell is a better hitter than Goldie. But Goldie is still good with the glove and not too expensive.
Not sure Yankees are done.
Disagree. Its almost exactly what wilpons would have done.
Ill take Goldy over Bell ,! he has more winning traits and intangilbes
What’s the Mets rotation? I mean, besides Soto, what have the Mets done? You are making a bad close a starter now?
We will see, wasnt aware the season started tomorrow. The mets arent panicked like the yankees. Patience is a virtue believe it or not
The Yankees aren’t in a state of panic. Max Fried had a deal done 11 hours after Soto signed with the Mets. That kind of deal doesn’t happen that fast. Their plans all along were Soto and these guys, not Soto or these guys.
Pure speculation. Yea they might have recognized at some earlier point they couldnt compete for soto… ill give u that. The rest i do not buy tho. It all (fried) reeks of panic by management not wanting to be perceived as lesser. 8 years for proven breakable pitching. My explanation is simplest therefore most likely correct
Getting one of the better FA pitchers, lefthanded, and a ground ball machine in a field with small dimensions on the corners is a panic move? I guess if they sat around and let the price go up further that would have been the smart move?
Fried was impressed with his meeting and likely wanted to sign there. If anything it’s a mistake on his part not sitting around longer. Good on him wanting to go to a team and getting it done quickly.
8 years is the panic, be honest
Your explanation completes your narrative, but look at who the Yankees have acquired. Fried was connected to the Yankees before Soto signed did a massive deal hours after he signed, and is not an offensive player. The Yankees have been trying to upgrade the starting pitching staff since last year. They backed out of a deal for Flaherty because of his medicals. They were not trying to go into this next season with Cortes and Stroman in the rotation. Devin Williams is a Clay Holmes replacement/upgrade, Bellinger is a Verdugo replacement/upgrade, and Goldschmidt is a Rizzo replacement/ upgrade. None of them would be considered a Soto “replacement” and I believe that all of these moves would have been completed with or without Soto. You just keep being patient. In FA the more patient you are the less options you have.
Lark, enough of the reality. Yankees fans don’t want to hear it.
No it isn’t. Honestly, Rodon got seven years. That deal was done already. You might not like it personally or for your team, but that wasn’t a pivot. The “plan” was Soto and Fried.
Meh… Pitching is always expensive. Long term deals typically turn ugly at the end. Fried good or bad will be a memory by the time Soto is overpaid. I was happy the Yankees “lost” Soto. 12 years 600 mil was the most pain I would’ve endured to get the rest of his peak. Soto and Fried likely the same age also…
I dont think it was a panic as much as a we’re not getting in a bidding war. Plus it ran Burnes price way up for any competitor
Please compare the Mets to the Dodgers !
So much salt mocking clay.
De Lorge,
Senga, Montas, Holmes.
3.14 ERA is extremely good. If he repeats that as a starter he is pretty close to top ten in the league. Several relievers become good starters in the last few years like Wacha, Lugo, King and the Red Sox new Ace Crochet, so its not a stretch to think he will be a good starter.
Do you think Cohen spent $750 million on Soto to leave his rotation less than the best?
The Wilpons…Those must have been painful years for you.
Killer: The early years in the 1980s were great.
nah i know I enjoyed myself, but thanks for your concern!!
You sound like a Mets fan….
You sound like a Yankees fan.
Alonso to the Mets confirmed lol
Looking good for the mets to get him at a normal price now, hopfully alonso moves forward now
Depends on the Nats.
Joe
Agree, Mets and Nats are the two most plausible remaining options
Mets 50 percent
Nats 40 percent
Mariners 5 percent
Dbacks 5 percent if someone takes Monty first
7/158 isn’t happening. What a terrible miscalculation that looks like now.
I’m guessing he looks to save face and goes with a 2/60, 3/90 opt out after 1 and 2 prove it contract.
Mets would love for him to perform, opt out and back up the Brinks truck for Vlad Jr- although rumblings of a massive extension in TOR may squash that theory.
I think pete takes max contrsct value not a prove it. He alread proved it this is the best he will do
Very possible. What does that look like- 5/125?
On a pillow contract he could get the OPS back over .800 with 40+ taters. But there is risk of back to back career low outputs then maybe he’s looking at a Walker-esque redo.
Interesting to see.
Im gonna let stearns handle it lol. Idk honestly. Could be, 5 years means mets should only have 1 or 2 years of real questionable production
“I’m guessing he looks to save face and goes with a 2/60, 3/90 opt out after 1 and 2 prove it contract.”
If he does this, it would be a horrible move on his part. Whoever signs him to a 5 or so year deal is doing so with the idea that the last two years would probably not be worth much. If Pete would accept a 2/$60 million deal, he would have been signed already, even with the opt-outs. If Pete wants to maximize his dollars, he should be pushing for 4 or 5 years at ~$25 million.
It’s possible but 4/100, 5/124 after turning down 7/158 is a big pride pill to swallow.
He’s coming off his worst year. Seems like a prime prove it, re-establish value candidate considering he is always healthy, only 30 and would be driving in Lindor and Soto all year.
Prove it wont work. Even if he does he will be 31 32 or 33 and will have the same knocks against him. Now is his time to set his family for a couple generations
@rct, I’m not sure he even gets that. If he could, he’d have been signed. I think the evidence is there in the Yankees signing Goldschmidt. They want in on a Vladdy as well. O one is really looking at Alonso as a 4-5 year staple unless he settles for $100M.
@Mynameisnoname You don’t want to give a player like Alonso, a bad 1Bman in steep decline, opt outs—because he’s extremely likely to stick around and get even worse on your dime.
Not saying you, but it’s interesting that most fans assume Alonso has a few decent years left. That’s far from a sure thing. His slide has been steep since 2022. In 2024 he was worth about half what he was worth in 2022. He’s one of the worst fielders in baseball. And there’s no compelling reason to believe his slide won’t continue unabated.
Dave Kingman v. 1972-1975 is Pete’s fate. The only real question is, will that arrive in 2025 or 2026?
That Joel Sherman rumor has been debunked thoroughly by both the Mets and Boras.
Boras has said that Alonso turned down a 5 year offer from the Mets prior to the 2023 season and rumors were it was between $125 million and $140 million, but I have seen no verified offers or any actual numbers from either side since then.
…..and Vladdy to Yankees ’25’ confirmed. Okay maybe only 95%
Pete’s coming back to the Mets. Stearns has not sugar coated it, “we want Pete to be a Met”. Cohen has deep pockets but also a desire to have players leave a legacy which, sadly, compared to other teams they lack. Pete is also a player that cares about winning. Sometimes a little too much, which gets him into slumps. I do not believe last year is the beginning of a decline but the pressures of a contract year. I’m not going to opine on contract $$$ or length but I’m very confident he will be a Met for the foreseeable future.
Da Jankees Lose.
Daaa jankees went to the WS
And they got schooled by the Dodgers.
Well, tbf, the Dodgers also schooled the NL (outscored NYM 46-26 and shut them out twice; and a closer series with the Padres 24-21, but shut them out the last 2 games)
The Yankees also schooled the AL, even if the competition wasn’t as strong as the NL. But outscoring their opponents 44-32 in their 2 AL Series is still pretty good work.
Although they did lose one of the best players in the game, the Yankees seem to be doing a good job or spreading the talent on the rest of the roster instead if keeping it top-heavy.
Baron
No shame in losing the WS to a team with three hall of famers at the top of the lineup.
There is whe the little brother cross town rival was the team with the shot to beat them. The stole your best player
Judge was worth 11.2 WAR last year without any line-up protection. He is their best player until father time proves otherwise.
Soto is a better bet to perform closer to 6 than last year’s 8 WAR with a large RF to roam and a big drop off in protection. I’m guessing 30 HR and more BB instead of the 41 dongs we saw this year with negative defensive value.
Judge is bad ball hitter why he is good in regular season grbage in playoffs, also passed peak and a giant. He was not their best player, might be now tho
A few bad managerial decisions would have had the Yankees up in the series going back to LA. Dave Roberts isn’t schooling anyone as a manager except Boone, who is awful admittedly.
Judge plays a much better RF than Soto. Juan only has an accurate arm. Terrible routes and range- he’ll be exposed in Queens.
Soto is an all-time clutch hitter, would love to still have him, but calling Judge a bad ball hitter is lazy. He may have issues between the ears in the playoffs, but you don’t go over 200 wRC+ and tease 60 HR on hanging sliders only.
“Well, tbf, the Dodgers also schooled the NL”
Disagree. Pads took them to the limit and Mets took them to a Game 6. “Schooling” to me means a sweep, maybe one loss. Also, the Yankees gaffed away two games and could have forced a Game 7 if they were more fundamentally sound and had a different manager.
Dodgers were/are a great team, but not exactly dominant.
How does a 39 year old league average hitter do that exactly?
I disagree
@rct – Dodgers also didn’t have some of their main guns like Glasnow, May, Kershaw…
Best player? Get real. Aaron Judge, the reigning MVP, is the NYY best player.
Now you’re just spitting out nonsense. Listen Raymond, just because you say it doesn’t make it so.
Judge had a 10.8 WAR after 4.5 WAR in 2023. At age 33 which will he be in 2025? He had a -9 DRS last year so his defense was very bad.
Soto is 26. Soto had a -1 DRS. Take a look at StatCast. Soto would have hit more HR in Citi than Yankee Stadium last year. 6-7 WAR is top 10 in baseball. He will give the Mets 6-7 years of that production or better.
@isthebwst, no one can tell with certainty what will be. But, to question which Judge will show up in 2025 based on his 2023 WAR, without considering the time he missed due to a freak injury, and the effects of the injury, is a bit shortsighted (at best).
Will he be injured in 2025 like he was in 2023?Will he be a 6.1 WAR like he was in 2021 when he was healthy?
One thing we know for sure is that players decline in their 30s. The only thing we don’t know is how much will Judge decline. To 2023 level? To 2021 level? Between there and 2024?
Nothing freak about a torn tendon due to playing the field. Old players get hurt more often. Just a fact of aging. Judge had a -9 DRS in 2024 in the OF so soon he will be moved to DH.
You are being disingenuous at best.
@isthebest, you can ask those questions about every single player, and all of those scenarios could possibly happen. So, it’s not like you’re interjecting some revolutionary, forward thinking. So, stop pretending. But bringing up his 2023, where he missed 50 games due to freak injury, as a comparator or to make a projection is, quite frankly… dumb.
Let’s keep it going…
His 2021 was a .287/
.373/.544 slash line and 11DRS. Somehow, not surprising, you think that’s bad. Dumb.
He was playing our of his position all year last year to make room for Soto. Somehow, not surprising, you think that’s a bad thing, although it gave his team the best chance to win. Look at his DRS when he plays RF. Dumb.
Name the number of players that have missed 50+ games for running into a wall in the last 5 years. Dumb.
In sum, you’re full of sheet.
Disingenuous to use his CF numbers when he’s going back to RF. Let’s discuss Soto’s 2022 LF numbers!
@bistb. I see 11.2 at FanGraphs for Judge, but there is certainly expected regression within the next three years.
Luckily, Judge’s defensive value will age better in RF and the ferocity and deviation gap in his contact quality should help him stay powerful well into his 30’s. Will the average begin to slip? Possibly, but with ~140 GP a reasonable expectation, I’m comfortable in saying he’ll average 8+ WAR through at least 2027.
If I am making you try to insult me, I am on the right track. It means you don’t want to even try to see the facts. Too painful fire you. Easier to be a delusional Yankees fan.
Yes, do look at his DRS in RF the last couple of seasons. A -2. Judge was worse on defense in RF than Soto.
Face it, Judge is getting old and has lost multiple steps on defense since the last time he was good in his age 29 season.
That Judge missed that time doesn’t make it a fluke, it says he is old. A 27 year old Judge doesn’t miss that much time.
Just so you know, running into the wall is the #1 cause of IL trips for outfielder. Look it up.
When you actually can make sense, come on back.
& they lost it
but they went, which is more than you can say for your team
Doug Dueck: They made it for the first time in 15 years. Even a blind hog occasionally finds an acorn.
Squirrel/ Nut
15 years. Oh my. How long did the Red Sox and Cubs go? 86 years for Boston till God felt sorry for them and let them win a few. 🙂
Killer: Your handle really should be Keeper of Ignorance.
Yankees now using the ‘we made a world series’ argument. Lmao roles reveresed wherever you look. Are they humble yet? Nope still learning to cope.
All you clowns seem to have forgotten who won the one and only Subway series. Ahhh, such sweet memories.
Almost your entire rotation was on steroids, dont worry none of us care about it. Its like the stros to me. Cheaters robbed themselves and half the league of a level playing field
@Killer, i haven’t forgotten who won that series…. It was Roger Clemens’ bat “flip” down the first base line.
@Flag, yes, we know, only Yankees were roiding.
Who could ever forget that scene, m4n? I thought Clemens was going psycho. Guess it pissed Clemens off that he couldn’t get Piazza out.
Umm Ray, back then at least half the players were using something. Or I suppose the Mets were squeaky clean? 🙂
It’s a bad pickup when Josh Naylor was available for a lottery ticket and Carlos Santana was available for nothing but 12m.
Cleveland wanted too much, and Naylor is a head case. The Yankees don’t like Mr. “Rock the baby”.
Dude has something that Soto doesn’t… an MVP. Unfortunately he’s beyond those days.
I think he’ll have a decent year to be honest. Couldnt care less about mvp awards personally. Lindor was shafted last year, whatever
Shafted? Look at the numbers. Yeah, Lindor was super clutch but still… Ohtani is Ohtani. Unanimous I believe. “Lindor shafted…” (roll eyes)
Says a member of the fan base who wants to embellish how bad sotos defense is. Which is it chum? Defense matter or not? Lindor was elite defense at most or second most important position, ignoring C and P. He also changed the mets season around when he moved o the leadoff spot. Ohtani playedhalf games surrounded by hall of fame caliber hitters
Dodgers ere in with or without ohtani. Lindor was the most valuable player
Well Raymond, of course defense matters. In the back and forth the other day where you were determined to devalue the moves the Yankees were making and I was saying NY will be a better all-around club in 2025 without Soto, so of course I’m going to point out Soto’s weaknesses. As for Lindor, I had given very little thought to his case for MVP, as a matter of fact, I wasn’t even aware that Lindor had finished 2nd. It so happens that as a lifelong Yankee fan, I pay a lot more attention to the AL as opposed to the NL .I could be wrong because I don’t comb through the comments a lot at MLBTR but it seems to me you believe what you want to believe with a very strong bias toward the Mets which I assume is your very favorite team. And as a Yankee fan, I’m going to view their moves with a positive outlook as in the glass half full. At this point I’m hoping for good things from all the additions the Yankees have made. But if they don’t work out, I will be the 1st to admit and complain about their shortcomings. However, I like to consider myself honest and objective and I will try to see the other person’s point of view. But as I am sure you know, the level of discourse here sometimes makes objective debate impossible. You know as well as I do that the Yankees receive more criticism and bad-mouthing than pretty much any other team. I usually try to ignore juvenile comments but sometimes you just have to respond to certain ones that are so ludicrous, even knowing it won’t do any good or change anybody’s mind. You seem to be a passionate fan and knowledgeable about the sport, and I can admire that because I am the same way. Hope that all made sense. Anyway, Soto is a heluva player and I’m sure you will have a lot of fun and pleasure watching him in the years to come.
Goldy will be motivated to win the world series this year, which is a good thing, I wouldn’t count him out!
Funny that Goldschmidt won his MVP at age 34. And people act like Arenado is washed up when he’s headed into his age 34 season.
Many players do. Case by case. Goldy had one of the best careers of anyone going. Arenado is different
They aren’t THAT different……
Arenado looked washed up before his MVP caliber 2022 season.
Newsflash Blackpink: every player is different. Arenado is washed at 34, Goldy wasn’t.
Goldschmidt looked like he was in decline before his 2022 season. Just like Arenado. Assuming a 34 year old is washed up is ridiculously stupid.
That’s your opinion! Lmao
Gwynning, Goldy was coming off a 6.0 WAR 2021 season. Arenado is coming of a 2.5 WAR 20224 season. Arenado can no longer hit. At that point Goldy still could. Now Goldy is coming off a 1.3 WAR, 98 OPS+ season. He is washed too. Just years older than when Arenado lost his bat.
Joel, Goldy had a 6.0 WAR season in 2021, before his 7.7 WAR MVP 2022 season. Aren’t you supposedly a Cards fan? Shouldn’t you know that?
@BITA Arenado’s savant page shows below average contact quality since 2020. As a gap hitter, the cavernous dimensions of Coors propped up his numbers from very good expected stats to all star level. He’s been very unimpressive 3 out of 4 seasons with the Cardinals.
Goldy is 90th percentile or better red across the board throughout his career and is simply a better hitter than Arenado with much better metrics still despite his age.
Arenado is obviously more valuable defensively still playing an awesome hot corner, but yes, Arenado is fairly washed as a hitter.
Bat speed is waaayyy down. Great post Myname. Arenado will always have his glove, maybe not the range, but he’s close to hitting the wall now at 34.
Goldschmidt won an MVP at age 34.
We know that and we heard you the first time, Blackpink. We’re talking about Nolan, unless you’d like to change the subject, as you’re apt to do.
Goldschmidt hard wood bat smash ball hard still. Nolan might as well use a pool noodle.
Only award Nolan is getting is comeback player. Is he coming back? Yes unfortunately his contract hasn’t expired yet.
In 2022 Arenado’s Batting Run Value and Fielding Run Value were both above 94th percentile. His OPS+ was 151 and his wRC+ was 149. He also had a 7.7 WAR.
He did all of that as a Cardinal.
Gwynning I see you responding to a Blackpink and Pads Fans responding to Joel, but no one posting under those names. Who are you talking to?
They are talking to me fella. But I have Pads fan on mute so who knows why he’s talking. And Gwyinning is headed towards a mute.
Don’t threaten me with a good time, Blackpink/BITA! Make like Nike and just do it. I’m ready for the day when I no longer get to see your laughable drivel.
That answers that. Two of the best commenters on the board and you don’t like them. That tells me what I wanted to know and more.
What are you a Padres fan too????
I just muted Gwynning. You want me to mute you next just say so it will be done. Sounds like you do.
Red Sox fan for 60 years, but feel free to mute me if it makes you feel better. I don’t mind.
He muted you. Don’t be too sad about it 😉
Joel/Blackpink/BITA muted me as well. He reminds me of my kids when they didn’t get their way…at 3 years old. Oh well, he’ll get banned in a month or two and be back spouting off. Cheers dude.
What a Bum! Haha, Happy Holidays Bummer! All the best to you and the family
Same to you and yours dude. Cheers.
BITA…Jose Abreu wasn’t far off a great season when he joined the Astros last year and then…. he fell off a cliff. It happens and quite often right around that age. Arenado and Goldschmidt declined last year and that could well be the drop-off for them.
Christian Walker just got 3 years 60 million and he’s the same age as Arenado. And he got it from the same team that signed and is still paying Abreu.
Christian Walker has maintained his offensive and defensive stats unlike Arenado. Try another argument dude that one doesn’t fly.
Walker has had 3 of the best seasons of his carer in his 30s.
2022 – 5.0 WAR and 125 OPS+
2023 – 3.8 WAR and 122 OPS+
2024 – 2.6 WAR and 121 OPS+
He has lost a bit of range on defense, but is still a very good overall defensive player. His bat still plays at 20+% above average.
Christian Walker is a 1b Arenado is a 3b. And Arenado was an MVP candidate as recently as 2022 which Walker never has been and never will be.
We know where they play. You are the one who brought up Walker Joel! 2022 was two years ago. Your comp to Walker was off. Learn to admit when you are wrong.
Who is we????
Walker and Arenado are the same age and are owed the same amount of money once you factor in the money Colorado owes and the deferrals. It’s about as good of a comp that exists out there. Now why is Walker a good signing and Arenado washed up?
And didn’t you want your team to trade for Arenado? Of course you did but like I told you he has a NTC and nobody would choose to play in Detroit.
I don’t want Arenado in Detroit. Walker’s offensive stats were way better than Arenado’s and Arenado is declining.
What stats? Offensive stats?
I don’t care dude. You argue about this garbage like it matters. You are just being a tool. Peace.
It’s called a discussion Joel. The thing that adults do instead of muting people with different opinions and calling people names. Enjoy your Sunday and rest up your poor old mute button finger 😉
It’s not a discussion when you and 2 other people i have on ignore are ganging up on me for no reason except something I said to you in the past. That’s lame. A discussion is 1 on 1 not 3 trolls against me.
You have been muted. I don’t owe you my time. Merry Christmas.
Goldy’s going to the HOF. He’ll manage.
Many players have gone to the HOF and the vast majority have still been somewhere between below average to terrible from age 36 on just like Goldy.
Alonso price dropping by the day
My first thought – another door closes. Dave Kingman lucky if he gets his offer from last year.
Dave kingman? Uh no
Other than hitting HRs, what else is he actually doing?
Mets just need to sign Santana and we can grab the popcorn.
@orange milk Some of the suspects who might have bailed out Pete have ‘other options.’ Every one of COL, LAA, and Oakland has a promising young guy at the position.
Interesting that 30 GMs have noticed that across MLB, all 30 teams, only three teams had 1Bman 32 and older who put up as many as two wins. Expecting Pete to buck that trend is a fool’s game.
Not surprising since they missed out on Walker. I guess now the question is, do the sign Bregman for third base and the move Jazz to second, or the outfield?
I may be wrong, but it seems like if the Yankees wanted C. Walker they would have got him by outbidding everyone else. Perhaps Walker did not want to play in NY? I don’t know. I do know that as a Mariners fan, if the M’s are not going to trade for Y. Diaz or J. Naylor, they better sign C. Santana quickly because this 1b market is drying up.
Yanks aren’t commiting big money to 1b nor should they when I could personally play 1b and be an upgrade over what they had last year.
@Wrian Washman The Yankees got -1.1 fWAR from 1B in 2024. It’s probably the one position where they can gain the most just by adding a competent regular.
But instead they spent $12.5m to see if they can watch Goldschmidt’s continued steep decline into retirement, instead of locking in two wins (and three wins overall) by trading not much for Lowe, or actually committing to the position with someone like Walker.
The Yankees will spend $80m on add’l payroll in 2025 just to try to pip what Soto projects to produce next season, and they actually dealt away two wins in Cortes and Poteet to do it.
Just by trading for Lowe they could have avoided signing a 3-4 WAR pitcher in Fried for 8 years, picked up 3 WAR at 1B, and had another $68m with which to add the missing 4 WAR.
Cashman doesn’t seem to understand even the basics of his job, staggering from old player in decline to old player in decline, and dealing away starting pitchers as if they were as easy to come by as bags of donuts.
Imagine if Steingrabber had had the sense to sign Stearns or his like years back, an above average GM who understands his craft. He doesn’t need to be the best in the game when he can run top 3 payrolls year in and year out—he just needs to be reasonably above average at the gig.
Instead you have Cashman. It must be miserable to watch him sign Rodon, or deal away Cortes but keep Stroman, or to have watched him sign Rizzo to that 2-year deal, or the trade for Bader, or for Donaldson…. extraordinary that he has a job when his skill set rivals those of Billy Eppler and Brodie Van Wagenen.
@Jack The “all-in” approach has failed throughout 99.9% of baseball history until the Dodgers pulled it off last year spending a CBA agreement altering, disgusting amount of money and locking up 3 HOF in their prime. It was bound to happen eventually but that’s an outlier not standard operating procedure. 1) Why do you assume a 34 year old Walker is going to be as good or better moving forward? 2) a declining Goldy on a one year deal cannot possibly hurt you. 3) I know there’s usually no point in arguing with people who look at WAR like the end all be all stat but I’ll attempt to anyways. You’re attempting to compare the value of WAR between pitchers and batters equally and your logic is already flawed for that alone. I blame Brian Kenney from the MLB network for this epidemic where every casual fan regurgitates one of the most flawed stats in the game and use it as a “gotcha” to ‘win’ baseball debates. The same fans that claim the amount of times you recorded a hit against the amount of times you recorded an out is “outdated” when it’s quite literally the batters only job. Heck they’re starting to say ERA doesn’t matter either to justify ridiculous things like Strider winning a cy young with an ERA approaching 4 because of “FIP” these fans crack me up. You don’t get to cherry pick favorable stats and ignore others to fit your narrative I’m sorry. 4) Loosing Cortes doesn’t hurt, he’s a #3 on bad teams and a #4 on good ones. Those pitchers are quite literally everywhere and every year several teams spawn those in from the farm. Fried, Cole, Rodon, Gil, Schmidt is a better 1-5 than most MLB teams but yeah losing Cortes is what’s gonna do the Yankees in this year give me a break. I’ll take Stroman as a long reliever and occasional spot starter how many teams have 6 viable options? Steve Cohen is Rockefeller/Rothschild elite level rich and the Dodgers are paying the GDP of a small country in deferred payments to players after they retire. You can’t expect the Yankees to behave like them. Sorry but most Yankee fans are quite content with the moves being made. They have as good a chance as anyone in the AL to go back to the WS and they’re still not done adding.
to justify ridiculous things like Strider winning a cy young
======================
Strider didn’t come remotely close to winning the C.Y. Award. Snell received 28 out of 30 1st place votes, and Strider received exactly -0-.
As a Mariners fan, I’d rather let them play Locklear, than add Santana for the third time.
What’s up with the Mariners? They arguably have the best 1-5 pitching staff in baseball and they can’t over pay for a couple of bats. I’ve been to Seattle once, that was 5 years ago. It’s a big city and they have fans that I’m sure make big bank in the Tech sector. They also have a deep water port. Why can’t they play with the big boys enough to fill a roster that has the potential to win in the AL West? The Angels dominated in the first decade of this century and the Astros dominated the second decade. Texas won a world series and have been competitive. The Ms fans should be complaining about cheap owners way more than anyone else. Why is it that I read more Red Sox fans complain about their ownership, but Ms fans remain silent? Is it disinterest? Complacency?
I think Yandy Diaz is the best option out of the bunch and would love for the Tigers to go get him to play 1B. Santana is a good one year solution though. The competition for remaining g 1B options should heat up pretty quick from the looks of it.
The Tigers are still committed to Torkelson. Their need is 3B.
They can still be committed to Tork and sign a 1B. His defense sucks. Diaz is a clear upgrade at 1B. Harris was clear Tork will have to earn his spot. Tork could get at bats at DH and 1B even with Diaz on board.
Hopefully they address 3B as well. Kim would be nice so that Jung gets at bats as well, and Kim could slide I to SS if the Baez/Sweeney experiment fails. Kim and Diaz are the types of players Harris/Greenberg target and they would make the team better in a lot of fronts. Thoughts?
First base was never that pressing. They just need a platoon partner for Raley.
Yankees didn’t want to lose mote draft picks. They could have easily and gladly went 4 years.
@bigred – It’s because of the QO extended to Walker that the Yanks were not in on him. They already owe Atlanta draft pick compensation for signing Fried. Fried was worth the sacrifice but not Walker when there were options to get better without it. I’m not super gung ho on this signing but the risk is low, Goldie is a high character guy and between that and being Jewish, he stands to be a fan favorite in NY as long so he’s better than Rice, which is a rather low bar. What ultimately sets it up to be a net win for the Yankees is that 1st base was an absolute black hole of a position last year and this is not going to be worse, but it does have a significant chance to be better.
Plus if they signed Walker they wouldn’t have a spot for Vladdy next year.
Walker at 3/63m, if that’s what it would have taken, would have been a much better bet than Bregman at something like 175m.
Of course they would’ve.
Teams BUY whoever they want, whenever they want.
Joke league.
Looks to me like yanks respected not pursuing alonso the way mets did with judge
They don’t want Alonso. If the Mets had bid on Judge, so be it.
K chief.
Luckily your team has more class than the fan base
The Yankees didn’t want another bumbler at 1st who just had his worst season, who wants big bucks. Funny how Cohen went nuts for Soto and now is playing tightwad with Alonso.
I dont see how thats funny, seems pretty rational to me.
How many everyday players will be paid less than goldschmidt this FAncy? Very few i would guess
Alonso sees what Cohen just paid Soto. And now with Alonso and Cohen at a stalemate you don’t think that irritates Alonso, longtime Met favorite? From my point of view, that’s funny.
Not sure your point. Theyre all big boys. Why alonso would think its soto or cohens fault no one is willing to pay him
OF is set with Belli LF, Judge RF and Dominguez CF.
Except the Yankees traded for Cody Bellinger and told him “you’ll be the everyday centerfielder”.
Picking the guy with most obvious decline, very yankee strategy I see.
Better than Rizzo that I am certain
I’m actually not certain. Goldy is toast. I don’t love this signing. Love the other moves though.
Goldy was excellent when hitting lower in the Cards’ order last year, meaning he was pressing when trying to carry the weight in the heart of the order. The Yankees won’t ask him to do that. If he does anywhere near what he did for the Cards when hitting 5-6 in the order last year, this is a steal and a major boost.
Goldy and Arenado will both be better as supplemental players. Neither of them did well the past two years under the pressure of batting 3rd or 4th. Watch the Yanks get Nolan now too and then win the WS.
Goldy projects to be better in 2025 than 2024. Yankees got absolute bargain. Other teams are stupid or he took less $ to win. I’d gladly give him 15 in a cheaper state.
Anybody who watched Rizzo play last year knows you could put Bob Uecker at 1st base and get better production. 🙂 And Rizzo’s fielding fell off an airplane as well.
Rizzo was better on defense than Goldschmidt last season. He couldn’t hit after the concussion.
Mets fan, let me guess. Go out and sign Bregman to pair with Soto. Then you can watch them both underperform for the next 8 years (15 for Soto).
Juan Soso
Good for both of them!
And the dumpster diving begins…….
“Dumpster diving begins”…Since when do “dumpster divers” consistently run $300M payrolls? I think you may need to get your glasses fixed, because clearly you’re not seeing what the rest of us are seeing.
It’s only the dumpsters behind the Four Seasons and Ritz Carltons. Day-old leftout caviar and flat, warm Dom are still good I think.
YBC
TMI
800 ops in a dumpster is quite the find.
I think this move was to try and convince arenado to accept a trade to the yankees could be wrong but I think that’s what this move is.
Arenado is NOT coming to The Bronx cos the Cardinals turned down a potential deal.
Doesn’t mean a deal can’t get made. If the Yankees want him, they can add some cash or a prospect to their offer. Or offer somebody the Cardinals want more than Stroman.
Cards turned down the deal, because they didn’t want to take on Stroman’s salary. If they Yanks offered them someone cheap, they’d take it. They’re just not interested in training a salary drain for a salary drain.
They turned down Stroman of course they would do that the cardinals are cutting there cost down this year but a couple of middle to lower prospects will probably get it done.
You’re wrong. Goldschmidt is superior to Nolan and absolute bargain. Yankees thrilled. They would like Nolan sure but if playing for the al champs wasn’t enough.
2.5 WAR vs 1.3 WAR. Not close.
What, the Yankees can’t sweeten it?
Ridiculous.
Perfect and about $2.5-$7.5M cheaper than I thought he would cost.
This is the right move…. I erased a ton of Tom Cruise movie title puns after this sentence.
I think this is exactly the type of contract he was expected to get. Being allowed to hit lower in the order for the Yankees should help him tremendously. He hit well in both the 5-6 holes for the Cards last year. He just struggled when being asked to carry the weight higher in the order. The Yankees don’t need him to do that.
He could’ve gotten more elsewhere?
Along with possibly playing for Dodgers, a best shot opportunity adding “WS Champ” to this aging veteran’s banner resume.
If he was going to highest bidder I would have guessed 17m to NY. Either he wants to win or other teams made a huge mistake.
Nowhere to play in LA so was never going there.
So now they’re trade for Arenado and bet gazillions on a rebound from two older and declining players. Oh well, it’s their money.
Unless Arenado voids another trade. I get the feeling it’s the Dodgers or nothing for him. At least the price for Goldschmidt was a little lower than I expected.
Why does the price matter to you? How much of it are you ponying up?
If you bothered to read my comment you would have seen: “Oh well, it’s their money.” To state the obvious I don’t care how the Yankees spend money.
Baron, it appears you don’t go to MLB games. If you did, you’d realize that we (fans in attendance) are ponying up for the “price” of players.
The Man
Fans don’t pay more for the price of players
Prices are set to compete with alternate forms of entertainment
The argument to not want your team to overpay for a particular player is that, for most teams, the money could otherwise be more wisely spent on a different player
Yes you do, if you dont think so thats foolish. The only other possible argument, imo, is all teams are making bank and we are all being suckered, beginning middle and end. The fan pays the salary, inflationary salaries thanks to the government printing dollars willy nilly.
The money outside of cohen maybe one or two others, comes directly from fans
100, Sure, we’re not (;
The_M4N: I have been attending games since 1968 and have been to as many as 25 in a single year as a season ticket holder. You?
Try not be the guy whose foot goes in when you open your mouth.
TV and streaming drives pro sports, not attendance and the Dodgers lead the way with all revenue streams, that’s why they are king now!
@Baron, ahhhh… speaking from experience.
slider, it’s all part of the pie.
The_M4N: Exactly. Having attended hundreds of games over the last 57 years.
But good on you for admitting when you’re wrong.
Believe it or not the fans fund the teams
Raymond: But no individual contributes a significant portion of the operating cost.
Then why isnt everyone in on evry free agent?
RF, The difference in annual local broadcast revenue between the top teams and the lowest teams in $300 million.
Goldschmidt will be better in 2025 than 2024. Will get similar or more $ next year. At least projections say this. When age catches up it’s over. But teams keep getting a bargain with Santana betting in 1 more good year. You gotta play the odds.
How many 3b put up a better WAR than Arenado in 2024? Look it up.
Arenado put up 2.4 and 2.5 bWAR in 2023 and 2024. Not bad but a sharp decline from previous years. Is he gonna get better in his 30s? Who knows?
Anyway, I get the feeling Arenado would nix any trade to the Yanks, despite the Goldschmidt signing. Not to mention that the two teams would have to come to terms before they even asked Arenado’s approval.
He put up poor numbers in 2020 and wasn’t that good in 2021 either. But then he was an MVP candidate in 2022.
I bet Arenado will happily go to the Yankees assuming the Dodgers are out. No clue why you don’t think he wants to play there.
Casey, tell Joel/Blackpink that 9 3B put up a higher bWAR than Arenado
WAR is positionally based is it not?
BITA: I looked it up. There were 12 third basemen ahead of Arenado last year.
I think he’s ranked higher if you look at Fangraphs WAR.
Still 12th isn’t bad at all
BITA: Actually 13th among third basemen and tied with others for 163rd among all players. That’s nothing to write home about and certainly not in line with his compensation.
Again look at Fangraphs
Yes it is in line with his compensation
I looked at Baseball Reference. That’s good and credible enough.
Casey, the Yankees did NOT trade for Arenado!
Not yet……
Cashgod making moves now we just have to get the cheater at 3B and we’re all set baby
Uh, man. I really liked Goldy but he seems to be on a DJL-type decline. I hope he can find a resurgence this season or it will be brutal.
That said, he seemed to have a very productive second half…. So perhaps not as bad as it seems?
I was really hoping for Nate Lowe,
Christian Walker, or Bellinger at 1B. Well, this certainly explains trading Trevino…. Now we can use Rice as the backup C.
I was hoping for Nate Lowe as well clip. Left handed stick, good obp, 29-30 years old, gold glove, and 2 years control.
Goldschmidt projected to be better in 2025 than 2024. Should have given him 2 years because he probably gets the same or more $ next year. A+ signing. A+ off season.
And 1B
Goldschmidt’s defense declined and he inexplicably lost the ability to draw a walk. This is signing is wishful thinking. For $8 or $9 million we could have signed a more productive player in Carlos Santana. Heck, even trading within the division for Mountcastle would have been preferable. Instead, we paid a premium for a player in steep decline based on name recognition. How very Cashmanesque of the Yankees.
@dankyank It’s a valid point but this what teams paid for Justin Turner and JD Martinez to DH in recent years. The Yankees have a clear need and he plays 1B.
Turner would have also been a better choice. He was about 30% more productive on a per rate basis than Goldschmidt last season and would also come at a lower cost. No one Goldy has had a great career, but this was the worst possible signing for 2025. Making a signing based on name recognition and nostalgia is just laziness on Cashman’s part..
“Worst possible signing” is a little dramatic. You know that’s not true, as there are crazy amounts of “possible signings” that could be worse. That said, Goldy was excellent hitting 5-6 for the Cards last year, because he wasn’t pressing to carry the load. The Yankees don’t need him to carry the load in the heart of the order, so he can hit lower and relax. When Goldy isn’t pressing, he’s still a very good player. No guarantees on anything, but it certainly could work out well based on his very solid second half and excellent numbers when batting lower in the order last year.
Call it the least productive signing per dollar if that makes you feel better. Goldschmidt had a grand total of 113 PAs in the 5 and 6 positions. Predicting a productive season based on such a tiny sample size feels presumptuous.
Goldy will sell tickets.
In April.
Seems like the end game might be to swing an Arenado trade.
Thoughts?
Obviously not the most impressive of signings, but the moves seem ok to me. Short term deals to fill needs.
Personally I don’t like the Arenado idea. He’s an excellent defender but his offense has waned. I would’ve been okay with him if the Yanks had acquired a younger, more productive 1B, like Nate Lowe, but we can’t have two declining corners, or we are right back to last season (until the Jazz trade, that is).
I think Nate Lowe has been more productive for one season, and it wasn’t by much. He had one good offensive year, three years ago, and it was obviously an outlier. He’s a mid-teens HR guy and a low to mid 260s hitter. With Goldy actually getting to hit in a good lineup for the first time in a while, I don’t think you’re going to see much difference. Goldy will have a bit more power and steal a few more bases, but probably similar in a good lineup, so I wouldn’t call this a loss.
I’ll take Nolan just for his defense and star power. Bat is fine enough. It’s a battle for future NY fans who the Yankees need to buy their streaming. It’s more than just baseball. Cohen wants NY or at least a bigger share. Stearns isn’t a idiot and actually thinks Soto is worth 800m. Look at Mets attendance this year and check it again next year. That’s why they wanted Soto. That’s why Yankees didn’t get him. It’s the battle for NY and Yankees just cancelled out the Soto move by bringing in all these big names. Odds favorite to reach world series again. Gotta keep winning and get the youth as fans. No one gives a it about Nate Lowe. They heard of Goldschmidt Arenado Bellinger though.
Joemo, As a Red Sox fan I would absolutely love for the Yankees to have a 3B/1B combo with a combined age over 70. Add a 33 year old Judge and 35 year old Stanton to that with 2 more years of LeMahieu.
Then on the pitching side an average age of 32 including 34 for Cole.
What could go wrong?
I getyour reservations, me too. however, on the bright side, I think Goldschmidt will be a definite improvement over what we had last year. And I also think Bellinger will have a resurgence in New York. We should be OK. And the pitching is definitely much improved and the defense also. Which is what doomed us last year
It could still become Bellinger at 1B if Goldy is done. I continue to be frightened at the prospect of DJL on the roster. He looked so ancient this past season, and yet he has two years left in that contract!
If the Yanks had given up something for Belli maybe the Cubs would’ve paid down more of the contract. The rumored $10mil they were squabbling over would’ve made Walker a Yankee imo. Instead they had to go with a cheaper/lesser player in Goldy, who still a fine player
At his age players diappear completely in a heartbeat. Yankee fans are dreaming of their acquistions 5 years ago, as a mets fan i know the feeling.
If they kept soto theyd be crying about the lineup anyway, but now they wanna pretend belli and goldy somehow improves the lineup over last year. Not to mention judge is approaching a dangerous period of his career. If that giant ages gracefully it will be a miracle
I’m worried that you’re correct. All else being equal, I would have preferred Carlos Santana just based on the switch-hitting ability.
Wonder what the Yanks’ long-term plan for 1B is? I don’t think a lot of people see Ben Rice or TJ Rumsfield as the answer. My hope is that NY gives Spencer Jones a 1B glove and get him ready for the Big Club in 2026. At some point teams have to grow their own superstars.
Trade for Arenado in the works now ? Best buds playing together again in pinstripes.
When St. Louis already turned down Arenado for Stroman?
St. Louis didn’t want to take on Stroman’s salary. They’d trade Arenado to the Yankees in a heartbeat if they didn’t have to take on salary in return.
Strohman was a mistake from Day One and a really bad contract for a mid-rotation starter with minimal velocity. If the Yanks really want Arenado (and I’m not sold on him), why not eat half of the $18 million owed Strohman next year, and STL can let him go before the 2026 option kicks in?
St Louis said no to Stroman for Arenado.
Cards just want to dump contract. Yankees just have to take on most of it and it’s done. Stupid to think they would want take in more salary. I would tax NY on every trade just for insulting me if I was STL.
I feel like this signing reinforces the Yankees resuming trade talks with STL for Arenado. Reports say that Arenado would be open to the idea of being traded to NY if Goldstein signed there.
The Yankees and their fans have always loved older men.
Stars past there prime.
Goldy loves to take it the other way. He’s lost some bat speed….so even more so now. He’ll love that short porch in right.
His best is in the rear-view mirror, but if he gives them his age 35 season from here on in, it’ll be a good pickup.
This is a beautiful thing, Goldy is gonna be golden. Ahahahaha!
Eh, I think I preferred Santana between the 1 year old guy options, but this is fine. A 1 year deal doesn’t hurt, and if rice steps up to steal the job so be it, goldy is only here 1 year. I like rice and believe in him, but when you are playing for a world series you can’t count on guys developing, that makes this a solid move
Welcome to NY Goldy!
NGL I’m not too dissapointed with this move. He obviously had a down year in 2024 but he won an MVP at age 34. If he can give the Yankees some production at 1st base then that’s a win considering last year they ranked towards the bottom of MLB in that position in terms of value. 1 year deal too so it isn’t like they’re gonna be stuck with him if he underperforms (like DJ LeMahieu).
It fills a hole. Agreed. If he’s better than Rizzo/DJL/Rice, it’s an upgrade.
I have a feeling that the Yankees are still going to acquire Arenado to play 3rd in hopes that he’ll approve a trade to NY bc his teammate Goldschmidt is now there. We’ll see.
Vladdy’s contract is going to play out like Soto’s this year. Yankees obviously going all in on him next year with this move.
I really doubt it. I don’t think they will spend anywhere near what he’s going to want, nor should they, imho.
agreed clipper. His career will likely follow the course of Prince Fielder, you remember him, he had a lot of promise, but similar body type, he was signed to a long-term contract, his body broke down, and it ended up being a big waste of money for the team that signed him.
He also said he would never play for the Yankees. Although he walked it back a bit last year.
They will throw their hat in the ring for both Tucker and Vladdy and would be pleased with either one.
Good take him away from the Jays this Jays franchise does not deserve to have a player of Vlads talent and Atkins and Shapiro cannot not admit they have a star in their team and as Atkin say not currently there. Vlad get the hell out at end of season or tell them to pay u 650 million plus or your leaving .
More likely that the Yankees are more interested in Tucker.
I’d rather have had Santana or Santander or Profar in LF.
I’d rather have Bellinger at 1B and Profar LF with Dominez in CF
Lol. You don’t really prioritize defense much, eh? Arraez at 2B, Profar in LF, etc.
I’m still hoping the reds go after profar
I didn’t think he had it in him anymore, but Cashman has had an A offseason, imho (I guess a B+ rating would be appropriate too). I’m his most ardent critic, and I agree with you both about playing Bellinger at 1B. But, at least we filled most of the holes with improvements and the team is certainly more well-rounded. If Cashman acquires a solid 2B or 3B (wherever Jazz isn’t playing) I’d say an A+.
Stoked about this season!
would’ve liked more of a sure thing at first base too.however, if Goldie does not work out, we could always move Bellinger to first and pick up an outfielder during the trade deadline.
If they cut his games to about 130 and let bellinger and rice play some games vs RHP, i think goldy will do even better. All his hard contact rates last year were on par w his last several years, so he could easily bounce back.
I’m pretty happy with what he’s done so far! It’s been quiet on the Gleyber front. Maybe he’ll take a prove-it deal but I think that ship has sailed.
I say A+.
Truly, had Soto resigned, there would be little to no money available for upgrades.
Granted, the Yankees would have loved for Juan to agree to their final offer, but Juan going to the Mets paved the way for a host of awesome short term upgrades, and 1 truly AWESOME long term upgrade at the #2 SP slot.
This is Cashmans best offseason to date IMO.
A+ Cashman. Amazing other gms are so stupid that just making common sense moves gets you a A+.
Another year like this and I will be a Yankees fan. Already impressed me by being the only gm to have interest in Tim Hill. Might have been more desperation than brilliance but still…
This Yankees team would be incredibly scary if it was 2018.
The 2018 Red Sox would still crush them.
Scary now. What AL teams will have a better record 2025?
Nah they lost Soto and have basically the exact same team that missed the playoffs the season before, except it’s even older.
I would have preferred them trading for Nate Lowe but I’m sure price was steep.
Nate could been beastly in the Bronx!
Well done Cash! With five teams interested, I thought he was getting 2/30, but he didn’t even get the 1/15 MLBTR predicted.
This way, they keep international money and picks- which the Yanks always need and are great at drafting upside arm selections to package for trades down the road.
1B are being paid like the RB of MLB.
Mlbtr didn’t fail on this one imo. I think he took a bit less to win. Or other teams messed up.
Meh signing. I liked the other Yankees move this offseason, but Goldschmidt isn’t worth 12.5 anymore.
It’s a 1 year deal. His defense alone is worth that much. This is a good deal for the Yankees.
He has negative defensive value.
No he doesn’t he’s an excellent defender. WAR makes a negative adjustment because he plays 1b but thats not the same thing.
Watching him last year, he just seems to have nothing left offensively. I get the philosophy of there’s no such thing as a bad 1-year deal, but Goldy in the lineup isn’t exciting. I’m loving the Yankees offseason so far, but the offense is still lacking from what it was.
He was a league average hitter last year. And again excellent defender.
The Yankees lost Soto, Torres and Verdugo. They replaced them with Goldschmidt, Bellinger and probably Arenado here soon. Thats not bad. And they upgraded their closer and rotation. Keep that in mind.
I like mlbtr guessed 15. 12.5 in NY is absolutely a steal. Picking throws will be the last thing that goes in his game. So defense isn’t a worry for a 1b. Probably has a 800 ops year. They should have given him 2 years.
so, i guess no Santander or Teoscar for the outfield either, and dont hold your breath for trashcan man.
This has nothing to do with Vlad, he’ll command a ton next year also so he wont be coming.
Hays, Profar, Verdugo 2.0, more Trent Gresham late inning defensive replacement Save wear and tear in Judge
Who needs vlad. Get Goldschmidt back. Then Walker or another 38 year old. Their outfield is set. No reason to throw away draft picks and 20 some million a year.
With Judge protecting him Goldy has a shot at being worth 12.5m
A one year deal is harmless, and there’s some upside in that bat. It’s hard to lose Soto and say this team is better, but it’s certainly deeper and more well rounded. I like this a lot.
Soto was one player/one bat/ little defense…..Williams, Bellinger, Freed, now Goldy, while bringing back Lasagna, and most probably Hill…..don’t know if their done as yet, as they may go with a committee at 3rd, but pitching wise and defensively, they are better matched for a team like the Dodgers in a 7 game series…
Obviously better. They have 800m to invest elsewhere. That buys a lot of Goldschmidts.
People forget how little production Yankees got from 1st base last year. If he produces exactly like last year (which was bad) then he will be a massive upgrade
Exactly this.
NYY fans are going to love to hate Goldy. Even when he was elite his slumps were spectacular.
That might be true in a vacuum. First base has been a black hole the last two seasons while Rizzo was in his two-year slump. We have no expectations, so we can’t be let down!
It can go very well or horribly wrong for 2025 NYY.
Like choking in the WS. Great year but … laid multiple turds when they needed to show up most.
You can’t lay a world series turd from the golf course. It sucks to lose the WS, it sucks more to be watching some other team play in the WS.
Only injuries can make it go wrong otherwise they are the best AL team.
That is true of every team! Injuries to the wrong players, regression from young players, veterans showing their age, all could add up to a disaster. If everyone stays healthy, youngsters take next steps, and some veterans regaining form, and they could set the AL record for wins!
Follow-up article with Blue Jays was interested even though the have Vladdy.
Guy was pretty good in the 2nd half last year. If we get that production, it blows away what we got from our 1Bs last year. Still need a 2B or 3B
Great deal for Yanks
Not a great decision by Cashman. A righty hitting 37-year old was not the answer. Need someone younger that can be a leadoff hitter with high OBP. I preferred to use Bellinger at 1B and sign Profar for LF. Profar .380 OBP (7th best in MLB) and 5 years younger than Goldschmidt.
How many 1Bs in MLB hit leadoff?
How could you not like the deal? It’s 1 year and not all that much money. He’s going to a hitters park in a good lineup where others can carry the load.
Finally agree with BITA. Mazeltov!
Some people hate every deal the Yankees make regardless of merit.
Just seeing this now.
I think this will be good for NYY.
It seems players are making decisions, things moving. Should be Bregman soon,
Sasaki signing after Jan will be significant. Many teams probably hesitating to pony up for other FA Pitchers because Sasaki could be such a good value at his age and salary. AND unfortunately for the rest of the league LAD may be the winner
Wouldn’t be surprised if Arenado follows. Need a lefty bat still.
Arenado bats and throws right-handed.
Oh his buddy is coming, he’s packing now. Ahahahaha!
Yankees love there washed 1st baseman
That was all that is available on the market. The non-washed first baseman are not available. So it was a washed one on a cheap short deal, or a washed one on a long, expensive deal. It seems the Yankees chose the preferred contract over the preferred player.
Can we stop with the false narrative? Santana and Turner could have both been signed for less. Mountcastle, could have been acquired in a trade with a lower salary. All are higher floor options for 2025.
Let’s be clear here. Assuming Dominguez won’t go through any sort of learning curve is risky and the savings from any of aforementioned signings could have been used to obtain Austin Hays as a fallback option in left field. That in turn would allow us to use Bellinger as a backup at first, should the need arise.
Cashman does not appreciate the value of putting a floor at each position and spreading the spread around. Opting for a couple big signings and acquisitions based on recognition might be effective at convincing fans that ownership is spending more than they actually are (and I believe we could improve the team with a lower payroll), but it makes for a terrible approach to roster construction.
The false narrative is that you know any of that to be true. Turner and Santana are both older and will probably sign very similar 1 year deals. Even if it is a little less, it will be nothing in baseball dollars on a $3oo million dollar payroll. You have no idea what the Orioles are asking for Mountcastle or if the Orioles would be willing to trade him to a division rival. The Yankees and Orioles are probably the favorites to win the AL east going into the season, so the answer was probably no to that move. The Yankees will pay Goldschmidt slightly more than Aaron Hicks makes from the Yankees this year, so I would hardly qualify this as a “big signing”. It’s a one-year flyer on a veteran first baseman.
We know that Cashman didn’t make a trade proposal for Mountcastle or a contract offer to Santana or Turner. The issue is that better options existed and they weren’t even explored, at least if we trust the reporting (to say otherwise is pure speculation). We also know that Santana has been taking below market deals since the 2021 offseason. We also know that Turner will take less than his 2024 salary since his production declined last season, albeit to a lesser degree.
The defender of this signing want to wear blinders and deal in an alternate reality of unspecified unknowns to create a false narrative that there were no alternatives. Not only has that been proven false, but the savings from acquiring any of the three alternatives would have been enough to afford Austin Hays as a fallback option in left. That in turn would allow us to rely Cody Bellinger rather than Ben Rice . In other words, the fallout from this move costs us close to 4 wins.
An option that isn’t pursued won’t come to fruition. The Cashman apologists would rather claim helpless and pursuing any alternatives would be automatically futile. The laziness is getting pathetic.
I just think you are making more of this than it is. Goldschmidt is just a guy. I see you got a bee in your bonnet for Austin Hays. Also, just a guy. You need guys to fill out the roster. I’m sure we will see plenty of Ben Rice, just like we did when Rizzo was around. It is definitely a lateral move from Rizzo when an upgrade would have been better, I just don’t think that first base offered a lot of upgrades. Goldschmidt’s presence won’t stop a corner outfielder or third base upgrade, so I’m not sure why you are so upset by this.
Ben Rice was a sub replacement level player and had an OPS under .600 if we’re excluding his 3 home run game. There’s no justification for “seeing plenty of Ben Rice” since he isn’t an MLB caliber player. Even Tyler Nevin would be an upgrade and provide multi position eligibility (not that I would be in favor of such a move).
Overpaying for a fourth best option is poor judgement. Also, you desperately need to familiarize yourself with the Yankees roster before commenting. Chisholm is taking over third, leaving second and left as the positions that need to be addressed. As already explained, the alternatives at first allow us to afford Hays as insurance to Dominguez.
The defenders of this signing are relying on a number of questionable or outright false assumptions
– that no higher floor options exist
-that Goldschmidt will inexplicably bounce back.
– that left field needs no further addressing. Dominguez will experience no learning curve simply because they’re enamored with him.
You just don’t want to substantively address any criticisms because this signing doesn’t withstand scrutiny.
So sorry that the truth is inconvenient for your narrative. /s
I am familiar with the roster. Jazz can play lots of positions, but I don’t think we are talking with Bregman and trying to trade for Arenado so that those guys can move to 2nd base. Talk about enamored. Are you the Agent for Austin Hays?? If this is the last move made before Spring Training, then I would agree with you more. This is a nothing move that doesn’t stop us from making more moves. I agree that it is a lateral move from Rizzo. We didn’t upgrade. We also aren’t worse at the position, and he is $8M cheaper than Rizzo last year. I think it is a meh signing, but I’m not sure why you are angry.
Goldschmidt washed is still elite defense and 800 ops.
Then why did he register a .716 OPS and 0 DRS last season? Let me guess, the short porch in right at Yankees stadium is a cure all?
Bad luck sss. Teams don’t care about drs at 1b or drs at all really.
Then why did you invoke his non-existent “elite defense” as a justification for signing him? You’re just trying to renounce your own arguments the second someone calls you out on your bs.
Don’t worry, when Goldschmidt inevitably declines further I’ll be right here, shoving a steady diet of “I told you so’s” down your throat
I did no such thing. It is elite.
“Goldschmidt washed is still elite defense and 800 OPS”
Boy, I’ll bet you really regret not deleting that comment in the allotted 5 minutes now!
You never know at his age. All i can do is go with the projections and odds that say he will be that. Obviously at his age father time can get you fast. People been saying Santana is toast for 5 years and every year I been right saying he isn’t. If I continue to do so I will eventually be wrong but I will take 1 wrong and 5 to 10 rights everytime. So zero chance of regret not deleting comment.
You won’t be around to tell me I told you so. You will be wrong so many times you will be forced to change your name yet again.
I’ve had the exact same username since I posted my first comment here. Some of us are actually capable of supporting an argument with facts.
You haven’t been here long then or you would know when I say something it almost always happens as I said it would. I’m not arguing your facts. His ops drs is what it was. I just don’t use those in my projections.
Bonilla is still under contract and probably doesn’t have the arm to man 3rd anymore, he is an option.
Santana. And he should be their #1 target. If he is taken then maybe you fall back to Alonso.
Anthony rizzo part 2
37 years old ,it is Rizzo version, let see
I’d say signing goldy and trading for bellinger is a pretty darn good way to replace Soto. It might totally replace what he can do…. But it’s also not costing the team a 16 year, $760mm commitment either. Smart move.
Might not *
Considering that the rumor was that he wanted a two year deal and that the money would be more, this seems like a good move. Yankees keep building the best team of 2019 and im all all for it
Really interested to see where the rest of these FA pieces land. Bregman, Alonso, Teo, Santander,etc. Wondering since the chairs are kinda filling up fast if the Tigers get someone cheaper than originally thought? As long as it’s not Bregman for 5-$200M I’ll be happy.
For one year at 12.5 million, I think that’s a really nice deal. He had a much better second half, and he can probably crank out 25 bombs next season. He’s already a significant improvement over the 1B options they had in 2024.
While Goldschmidt is a modest upgrade over Rizzo, Cashman paid a premium based on name recognition for a player in steep decline. His defense and on base skills seemingly evaporated last season. $8-$9 million would have bought a more product first basemen in Carlos Santana. I would have considered trading within the division for Mount castle preferable to this signing. Instead, Cashman makes a nostalgia based signing and the team will once again enter spring training with black holes in LF and 2b.
Williams and Bellinger were necessary upgrades, but this signing and Fried were gratuitous. Watching the team make big splashes year after year while neglecting to round out the lineup gets tiresome.
Losing Soto stinks so Cashman admittedly wants to emphasize run prevention. The acquisitions of Fried, Williams, Belli, and Goldy accomplishes that.
OAA and DRS has Goldy exactly at league average in ’23. That’s an improvement over their first basemen last season.
Carlos Santana won the Gold Glove and Justin Turner was worth 2 DRS. Both would have come at a lower cost. Mountcastle, who is arguably expendable, was a Gold Glove finalist and brings far better contact skills at a lower salary. I’m sorry, but even saying Goldschmidt was a fourth best option is being charitable.
Dank
Not sure Santana would have been cheaper than Goldie, maybe the same though
If you think that then you’re only kidding yourself since Santana has had a reputation for taking below market contracts since the 2021 offseason. Even so, an extra 2 wins for the exact same cost is an easy choice.
Perhaps fans actually think the higher number equals the best option and a salary below 8 figures is “dumpster diving”, regardless of production? No wonder Cashman keeps getting a free pass.
Dank
You are absolutely correct that Santana took less in 2023 and 2024.
You don’t think Santana’s excellent 2024 will get him one year at $12 million in 2025? He well surpassed Goldie in WAR in 2024.
No, I don’t think a half win improvement over his 2023 production warrants an extra $6.75 million. If his last 3 contracts are any indication, he’ll cost an absolute maximum of $9 million.
DankYank
That would be a good one year deal for the right team, maybe whichever of the Mets and Nats does not sign Alonso. Beginning to think Snakes will roll with Pavin.
He was nearly two wins better than Goldschmidt last year. We can argue that what’s done is done but at this point you’ve basically admitted that Goldy was far from the best option or value.
Dank
My one year of Santana at $12 million was exactly correct. Your absolute maximum of $9 million was not. Santana deserved at least the same as Goldie IMHO.
The contract is half a million less for nearly 2 extra wins. Santana was still the easy choice.
We agree that Santana was the better value. But you underestimated what he’d get. Let’s assume that one of the Mets and Nats get Alonso. If the Nets get Alonso, maybe the Nats give Josh Bell a guaranteed contract?
Bell is another waste of time signing. Not only has he failed to produce since being traded at 2022 deadline, I’m not convinced he’s any better than Chaparro or Yepez. Plus, they have a large pile of potential third basemen and outfielders so who’s to say one of them doesn’t simply switch positions? Why waste even $8 million on a below average hitter and defender? Not every player deserves a big league deal.
I’d love to see Alonso’s post game on the Nets
Ive been 38 before, my knees and reaction times were not improving
Adding Arenado to the roster along with Goldy makes the Yankees look a bit geriatric. Maybe some Bronx pixie dust will help Goldy? He is an excellent human being and showed signs of life the last month or 2 of 2024.
AND he won’t have the brutal St Louis humidity to deal with for a whole season. Yanks will be interesting. Cashman still has a pretty good fastball!
Would a healthy Rizzo be better than an old Goldie? Guess we’ll find out
Goldy is washed up and Williams implodes in the playoffs
What were the options? Do nothing. Resign Rizzo and Holmes? They are paying Goldschmidt slightly more than they are paying Aaron Hicks next season (we owe him for one more season). Seems like a low risk move. We paid Rizzo $20M last year for Ben Rice to play 1B, and Clay Holmes led the league in blown saves. At worst these are lateral moves for a team that went to the WS and at best they could be much improved at those two positions.
Real talk… does Goldy have one more great year in him, or is this the farewell tour?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What are odds of great resurgence nearing 40. He still has good years in him.
WOWOWOW!!!
Here’s to Paul bringing the BOMBS!!!!
I love this signing.
Opens up a window of oppurtunity to bring Arenado to the Bronx as well.
Cashman and Baby Boss are Bringing the HEAT!!!!
37 years old but 1 year deal so not much risk. Also, joke stadium.
Vientos, Mauricio, Brandon Belt, maybe Santana
Not a Yankees fan at all, but I’d go for Fried, Bellinger, and GS over Soto with still money left over anytime.
My sentiments exactly.
If they unload Stroman’s contract, even at a 33% discount (I think Stroman at $12 million per season for 2 seasons is a good deal at current FA Starting Pitching rates) They have about $20 million to work with, maybe a little more if Hal realizes that he needs to go all in this season.
Doron
Why do so many people think the contract they want to unload is a contract that other teams want to acquire?
Because there will be a team that suddenly needs 150-160 IP’s.
That bum Frankie Montas just got 34/2 guaranteed.
Stroman has a stronger track record, and granted, the Yankees will have to eat some money here, but still, there will be a bite.
Do the mets get to use 3 players or u simply add 3 players WAR and call it a day
Ah, damn. I was really hoping the Giants would pick him up on a one-year deal. He would have been the perfect stopgap before Bryce Eldridge takes over. Hell, I would have been fine with 2 years.
Of course it doesnt alarm yankee fans that he only got 12, they can go back to believing in yankee mystique, perfect signing for them. Give the fan base a reason to forget
The only thing alarming is how many comments you’ve posted
Awwww did i talk too long about baseball for you? Poor baby!
No, you’re just a dumb ass posting dumb ass comments.
None of that guy’s comments appear to be about baseball anyway. They all appear to be about the psyches of Yankees fans on the internet, which really means, of course, that he’s trying to tell us something about his own (evidently rather fragile) psyche.
Projecting much?
Prove how bellinger and goldy improve the lineup over soto. Or just keep yappin those lips trying make it about me.
You literally commented on a comment about baseball sayin im the one nit talking about baseball. Yankee world is in such disarray, its too funny to stop trolling u
Your accusing me of projection when I already called you out for same is laughable. You can’t even come up with your own stuff. My comments all come from a place of logical analysis while yours are clearly borne of emotional reactivity. Your desperation is showing. Goldschmidt only has to exceed the atrocious production the Yankees received from 1st base in pennant-winning 2024, which shouldn’t be too hard. Should be plus a few wins there. Soto netted the Yankees 7 wins last year but Clay Holmes cost 12. That’s another net plus. The Yankees underperformed Pythagorean W-L by a couple games (the Orioles overperformed it by several) so they may get a few dubs back from the law of the averages. Fried over Cortes in the rotation should net another few. That’s without considering Bellinger, who should net another few defensively even if he contributes little with the stick.
So it looks they should be fine. These things are really just a statistical puzzle. You believe otherwise because you allow your unchecked emotions to interfere and make decisions for you, which you prove when you make emotional comments like “keep yappin hose lips.” (Psa: this is the internet and nobody’s lips are moving. I know it’s a lot to take in when your emotions are so big and unwieldy, but try to keep up!)
Whoa sorry your novel is not what we’re looking for at the moment
lol It’s okay to just admit you’re intellectually outmatched, dude. It’s been obvious to the rest of us since you first embarked on your trail of emotionally reactive comments. Writing “poor baby” in one post and “keep yappin those lips” in the next makes it pretty obvious. The funny part is you told me to make a baseball-related point, then came up empty when I did. Meanwhile, you still have yet to make a single substantiative baseball-related point yourself. It’s almost like you’re participating in this comment thread more for emotional reasons than for baseball ones…
Lol. Intellectually outmatched. Knee slapping stuff. In case u havent noticed I couldnt care whatsoever what you think in any way. It just entertains me you so salty about the baseball.
Usually people who are happy and got what they want arent gonma sit around trying to prove how great they are. Yes you are such a smart boi! Congrats. Goldy and Belli > soto… you feel better? Lol
Your obsessive presence in a comment thread about a 1-year stopgap signing for someone else’s favorite team shows that you do, in fact, care quite a bit about Big Brother. You’re living in our shadow. That’s why your every comment is an emotional projection. Still 0 substantiative points about baseball btw.
Just enjoying myself. You can take from it whatever you like!! Enjoy your stopgap!!
This emotional-ass dude: prove how Bellinger and Goldschmidt improve the lineup!
Me: posts about WAR and Pythagorean theorem
Emotional dude: too long posts! Too many big words! You’re so salty!
(Insert clown emoji here)
Lmao so you addup 1200 plate appearances and say soto only has 600 therefore i win. Im smart! (No doubt you will need this argument explained to u)
K chief enjoy. MAybe 8 more centerfielder will make the WAR even higher!! Stopgaps are the ticket youre right!
Yankees and Mets..the best at winning the offseason headlines but can’t win the ring. Now that’s funny
Pretty much a free for all between NYY and LAD for who can get what they want. It’s just a farce anymore.
Mets fan are flexing.. not winning a world series, not making a world series, (checks notes) signing a player. Until you have a championship from beyond the jheri curl era the best thing to do is just relax. You’ve been king of the offseason before only to be the jester of the regular season.
Even though it was the yanks that made the WS, they looked the bigger fools this year. Keep flexing those championships from centuries past. Pinstripes aren’t what they were.
Vientos plays first and Baty/Mauricio play third.
Goody will probably hit 30+ homers with more bats around him. I can see Arenado coming over now they are going to have to do better than STRO ME though. Nobody wants that cancer. Probably going to have to cough up great prospects.
Goldy^^^
Typical Hal/Cash signing. Old vet who they hope finds another gear in pinstripes. If he’s a platoon bat then this is viable but disappointing. If they get Bregman or another top40-50 bat, then I guess that’s a solid plan B. But if they get Aranado or another over the hill 3B instead then it will be a full disaster. I don’t like how much this cost.
Imagine a team that does everything possible to contend every season for a WS, NEVER tanking, NEVER having a payroll below top 5, and then seeing fans of other teams making fun of them.
Hilarious to me.
This is a trade rumors site, that’s what people do, armchair quarterbacking
Not sure Goldschmidt has much left in the tank, at 37. But I understand the signing, someone has to play first, he has a gold glove still, but be ready for a very good ST, but a real slow start to the season, he will pick up around the All-Star break though. Be around the 260 ave 20 to 25 HRs, around 70 to 80 RBI’s will save errant throws to first.
Red Sox really just gonna sit on their hands and let NY take the division again. What a freaking joke we have become. If we took the 700 mil we used to try to recruit Soto and filled our holes the way the Yankees have we could easily compete for the division. But ownership and Breslow are flat out liars. Its criminal what they do to us every offseason.
Its December.
Sox just trying to hang around wild card contention. I like their chances. Yankees look like AL favorites.
Bellinger and Goldschmidt would’ve been exciting acquisitions five years ago.
Exciting now.
Very underrated deal. No such thing as a bad one-year contract. Moderate cost w/ a chance for a bounceback in a favorable stadium and short right field porch. If I’m not mistaken, Paul Goldschmidt does a good job of driving the ball the other way.
They got a marketable league average player. Says the stats. Says the age. Its opportunity cost, any dip in goldy and beli playing how he has so many times and the yankees will struggle mightily and cost themselves a competitive year. But the good version of belli and league average goldy and theyll likely be fine
37 with a .302 obp. Stupid
Pathetic non-championship-caliber team with another desperation purchase they think they’re good because they won a garbage AL last year and embarrassed themselves in the World Series and now they’re trying to buy everyone like the team that copied them and did it better, the Dodgers.
Yankees succesfully did it many times. Dodgers still had to get lucky last year with the bullpen taking over. Eh. Do agree the yankees look desperate to save face
I’d say they’re the favorite to return to the World Series. That’s why Soto should have stayed a Yankee. Right now the path to the World Series is much easier than in the NL.
Lol. Another fun one. Roles reversed yet again. Yankees trying to find non “we’re so special” arguments to claim soto is stupid. “Why doesnt he want it easy!” Such a loser argument says more about the arguer than anything.
Analyzing the yankee fans these days is a lot of fun as their world view crumbles
Lord
If Soto wanted to win WS, he would have signed with Dodgers and taken one billion with most of it deferred
“Such a loser argument says more about the arguer anyway”
You’re choosing to spend your Saturday afternoon (the Saturday before Christmas) on the internet posting about Yankees fans, and then accusing others of projection? The nakedness of your disowned insecurity and desperate posturing is comical and, unfortunately for you, quite obvious to all watching. Your every accusation is a confession. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
Awwwe lmao yall care how i spend my saturda mor ing wile i dtink my cffee bexaue youre butt hut yankees are on plan C. This is too much fun
Its the lebron argumemt, ‘im a loser so i will team up with a super team.’ Losers want the easy path. We go to space not because its easy but because its hard. Think more clearly karen (@lillittybittycrappy). And merry christmas!
Projection is the gift that keeps on giving. Your every accusation is a confession.
So witty! I truly do wish i was you. How could I not?! So splendid!! Your vigor is unmatched. Alas youre muted finally got boring enough. Enjoy your stopgap tho! Former glories are right around the corner!
“Alas you’re muted”
That’s right. Take that L, son.
Stop gap in case Jays don’t extend Vladdy
Dammit! RIP Rickey.
I’ve been hearing rumors he died for hours but no news until the Post article. He looked like he could still play and steal 30 bases at 65. Figured he’d live to 90.
Rickey Henderson passed away?
That is so sad. He was the best leadoff hitter of all time.
Me too.
Mostly Because I’m a mets fan.
Cash is da man.
Gr8 short term move which really hints at Hal just might let Cashman go all in on Vladdy next year
I have visions of Matt Carpenter 2.0
Not a NY guy at all. Surprised he signed there.
He wants a ring. I do agree he’s not a New York guy.
Huh? He’s Jewish; of course he’s a NY guy. I can see him and Fried chowing down on kasha varnishkes in Katz Deli already!
@scrappy
What an insane thing to say, but you do you.
@rotini – Some things, you gentiles will just never understand.
Dude, this is NYC. We are into every food known to mankind. Katz has the name recognition, but there are plenty of places in Brooklyn with equally good food.
Pete Michael Confortoed himself!
So far I’d say Brian Cashman is winning the off season. This feels a little bit like the 2008 off season going into 2009, except unlike 2009, enough of the pieces are in their relative youth or are one year rentals that won’t burden the roster and budget long term like Burnett and even Teixeira did.
I’m a fairly happy Yankees fan at the moment…. happy to basically forget the 2024 season ever happened.
It really does, Trill.
Whoever gets Sasaki for peanuts wins the off-season.
Cubs getting Tucker and Dodgers getting Snell were huge.
A’s spending money at all was nice.
Not a fan of this signing. He’s old, can’t hit fastballs and strikes out a lot. I don’t know where he will hit in the lineup. #6 oder 7?
The only real good part of the deal is its one year. The fried deal is the scary one
I even didn’t know that Fried only makes 14.5 in each of the next 2 seasons. So the Yankees have some money to spend, but they will probably f it up…
He had a bad half season tbh. News of his demise are greatly exaggerated and it’s ONE YEAR. Perfect.
We are looking at the 2nd place Yankees. Maybe third.
Who’s in first?
Not the Yankees.
Baltimore?
That’s a ridiculous statement. We’re already better than last year on paper and we’re not even done yet.
Salzilla
“We”? I did not know you were employees by the Yankees, good for you.
I assume it is the collective “we”.
Royal we?
As a red sox fan one side of me wanted the Yankees to get Soto so they would be stuck with that ridiculous contract and not be able to address other needs. I do believe they will be a more complete team with lots of upside if the big names can rebound and play like they use too. Sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes. I hope the Red Sox are not done, they should be doing like the Yankees are doing….spending and plugging holes. They are in a different situation with top talent coming up from the minors and trying the balance the line while up not blocking prospects with long term contacts to free agents.. We will see how it plays out. its a gamble with prospects
Theyre all gambles. Prospects are not that muc harder to predict than current players. Thats why so may teams end up with bad players
NOT a yanks fan, but still in awe over Jazz’s transformation going to NYY. Potentially the next left handed Alfonso Soriano with better defense. Between Goldy and Belly, they also have two potential “Comeback POY’s”. Plus a much better team without head-case Soto.
This is my 5th correct pick. Not great but I did better than last year.
RIP Rickey!
Facts I still haven’t even conjured up the energy to care about living players today
Now make Cleveland an offer they can’t refuse for ,José Ramírez start with Gil or Dominguez ,
If Cleveland ever again wants to extend homegrown talent for a discount, they best keep him.
There’s not enough in your farm system to get Ramirez, besides he has a no trade clause.
Oh snap, I was wondering where everyone went. Out Xmas shopping so I missed this! Yay! I’m happy, a one and done dance with a favorite 1b on the last decade. I predict he turns it around in that lineup!
And at that price???? Swoooon. Fantastic!
A one-year deal to be a placeholder for Vladdy.
@Best Screenname Ever
He’s signing with the Yankees or Mets next year.
I don’t trust Vlad, Jr. to age well in his 30’s.
If the Yanks could get him for 4 years/$200M and then move on I’d say yes…
But Vlad, Jr. is gonna want like 10 years/$400M to 14 years/$630M.
No thank you to any of that.
@TrillionaireTeamOperator
Actually, I think the Yankees will go after Munetaka Murakami in 2026.
I don’t keep tabs on the international leagues like I should, so I just looked this guy up.
Yes. Yes to this guy. Let’s just sign him in 2026 instead. 10 years/$350m oughta do it.
Mets play Vientos at 1B and Bregman at 3B if Alonso is Nat
Otherwise, Vientos at 1B, Acuna at 2B, and McNeil at 3B
Good for Paul Goldschmidt. Now he’s with an organization, where ownership wants to win. Unlike the greedy Dewallet family in St. Louis,who puts profits before fans. If Goldschmidt can tolerate the Yankee fans, he will do good.
If it’s the Evil Empire and the Dodgers in the world series next year I’m boycotting the world series.
People like an evil empire, sports do poorly whe ine is not involved, ask the nba
Cashman is not evil or the Yankees. How can it be an evil empire?
Go get Ha-Seong Kim for 3rd base and we’ve got a squad.
My fiancée is asking me/us how we can spend so much time on here commenting and arguing and do any of us have a life. Haha.
Women dont have hobbies, besides nails and hair
Tell her no! None of have a life! She can talk with my wife if she is bored!!!!
You are getting a true professional. A perfect teammate. A great defender! And if he hits a game winning home run you won’t see a bat flip. You’ll see a guy that just puts his head down and circles the bases. A very wholesome and humble person. Good luck Goldy I really enjoyed watching him play ball. Cardinal’s fan
So bummed about Rickey I can’t even tell you if this is a good deal or read its specifics. Old school Yankee fans know!
Goldy, Judge and Stanton. Yankee fans will revel in the cooling breezes of their whiffs at the plate.
48.2 WAR on fangraphs, that’s a pretty good winter so far in my book., second to the Dodgers!
One thing I can appreciate is that Cash seems to value veteran leadership. Belli a former mvp and WS winner. Fried former WS winner who had a struggle or two but pitched the clenching game 6 to win the series, throwing 6 inning of scoreless baseball. Adding Bregman would give them another former mvp and two time WS champ. The Yanks are a relatively young team Volpe, Wells, Jazz? Soto and Dominguez. Judge is the captain, deservedly so, but he’s never won anything and it might help him to have vets on the team that have won something even if one is a rat snake yeah can banger like Bregman .
Great signing. I still think they will add Arenado and can stay below 300m. If they find a third team and that team takes Stroman 1 yr contract (18m) with innings options for a 2nd which isn’t bad considering the pitching market and the Yanks kick in a prospect such as Beeter or Warren to the Cards they will only be adding approx 5m this year. Resigning Hill as a lefty specialist out of the bullpen and if they can sign Roki to replace Stroman and go with a 6 man rotation that would complete the 25 man roster and still be under 300m.
12 position players
Wells
Goldy
Jazz
Volpe
Arenado
Dominguez
Bellinger
Judge
Stanton
Ben Rice (1st base platoon)
O Cabrera or Peraza super utility
Back up catcher
Pitching
Cole
Rodon
Fried
Schmidt
Gil
Roki or Hampton?
Bullpen
Williams
Weaver
Lopez
Leiter
Hill
2 more arms competing for last two bulllen spots (Beeter, ?)
I know I’m missing bullpen arms….
Needs???
Still need a leadoff hitter, high on base, steal bases, preferably left hitting which is very rare and one more left handed bullpen arm!
Loiasiga is one arm that you missed!
Luckily there is no longer the stupid unbalanced schedule so they don’t have to play their division rivals 19 times each. I think it matters less with a balanced schedule, but also your envy comes through in that post!
BP-Williams, Weaver, Hamilton, Cruz, Loasigna, Leiter, Cousins, Beeter, Rice = 1b/ C back-up. I like Kim in the lead off spot!
The Yankees are looking pretty scary. Not fun to admit, but kudos to Cashman for losing out on Soto and still getting his team better (on paper) than the ’24 version. Well played.
Not a fan of this at all. Naylor, N Lowe, Yandy and Arraez are on the block. Goldy’s numbers the last few years have plummeted!! We don’t need another aging 170 strikeout righty hitter.
The question, what’s there to trade? Yanks do not have a great farm system and all your starters are overpriced for these team “willing” to trade.
Gil and Schmidt are overpriced? They’re studs on rookie deals, Dude. (Eye roll)
They’re good but not players you would make as the key in a trade…
LOL!!! You must have started watching baseball an hour ago. Gil was rookie of the year. An Ace who throws 100 and led ALL of MLB in BA against on a rookie deal with years of control. Gil would fetch Naylor PLUS something. Duh
Jasson LF
Judge RF
Bellinger CF
Stanton DH
Jazz 2B
Arenado 3B
Goldy 1B
Wells C
Volpe SS
If only this was two years ago, this lineup would rock
Yankees basically have a 2 year window by signing all these 30 year olds
You are funny. They are currently in a 32-year window of playing winning baseball. The window that they are currently working with is a Judge/Cole window. But when that one closes, they will open another window. This isn’t the Twins.
lol, are the Yankees even real contenders now? Look at their record vs non Al Central teams in the playoffs in the Judge/Boone era. They’re more like faux contenders/paper tigers.
They just play the teams in front of them. It’s December. Every team is a contender…except for the Mariners!!
They play the schedule they are given…..as does every major league team…..and as far as are they contenders….watch any baseball do you……watch the playoffs and WS?….another faux troll Yankee hater has spoken……
yes rocky7, I saw the World Series lol
AL EAST is the best in baseball!
300m payrolls don’t have windows.
That is the funniest thing I have read all day!! $300M opens a lot of windows!!
You can read. Congratulations. Still need to work on your comprehension. No windows because you can contend every single year. Glad to entertain you though. As the joker says laughter is the best medicine.
Yanks always keep their window open unlike most teams!
People are sleeping on the Orioles. You have to assume a few of their young players will take a step forward like Holliday, Mayo, and Rodriguez
Their pitching unfortunately has not kept up with their young position players ascending into their lineup….until they get more pitching, they’re going to have a hard climb out hitting every team they play…..
I have immense respect for Goldie, but Cash slipped up here. Santana was the play
Not sure if that is true. Santana has terrible numbers against righties. His splits suggest that he needs to be in a platoon where he only faces lefties.
Goldschmidt’s OPS against righties was .01 percent lower than Santana’s. So the defenders of this signing have now admitted Goldy doesn’t even the address the need for a quality left handed hitter. It truly is amusing watching any stated justification for this signing collapse before my eyes.
Fine. You win. This is terrible. I’m cancelling my MLB.TV subscription as we speak. The season is ruined because we didn’t sign Carlos Santana. The “quality left-handed hitter” that would have saved the season!
We both know they aren’t their team since you referred to the Yankees and the fan base as “you guys” on multiple occasions. So logically this should have zero bearing on your season.
Are we done now? Or do we need to continue the charade and pretend there’s any plausible justification for the Goldschmidt signing?
I guess we are done, especially since I have no idea what that post was supposed to mean. I have been a Yankee fan for 47 years. Not only that, but I watched 170 games last year. I am as emotional about this signing as I was when they picked up Trent Grisham’s option. He is a relatively cheap guy on the roster.
Im beginning to think you are santana and wanted to be on the ya kees. It hard for me to believe someone would spend this much time acting a fool over santana being some hero and goldy bing a chump. Wild
I think dank is having a bit of an episode. Best to not rub it in, in the holiday spirit
While i was hoping Goldschmidt would return to Arizona to potentially close out his career i like the signing for him. Santana may be down to the Twins and Mariners now (unless the Nats jump in). Alonso’s market has never really materialized. Washington is a possibility, a return to the Mets is more probable but i still feel like this would be the best play for the A’s. Let him put up video game numbers in Sacramento for three years and have a star to market around in Vegas (you can’t tell me there isn’t a way to market a ploar bear in the dessert)
Pretty much the winner of this offseason.
A+ Absolute bargain and fantastic move. Should be better in 2025 than 2024.
Every team is. If DJLM gets hurt, it won’t matter. If Judge gets hurt, then it’s over. True for most teams. If that OMG guy gets hurt, the Mets are ok. If Soto goes down, see you later season. I’m not sure if that is a hot take!
Which MLB roster is constructed for their major stars to miss significant time and still compete?? You should take a break from your hot takes.
Well now that you have gone from trying to make points to name-calling, I can see that I hurt your feelings. There is no unbalanced schedule any longer. They don’t have to play their AL east opponents 19 times anymore. The Rays, Jays, and Red Sox don’t scare me. The Yankees will be competing for a play off spot, just like the last 32 years in a row. I forgot that the Braves won the WS last year, and the Dodgers also won without their stars. Two teams won the WS last year! It was awesome! I am a loser.
I wasn’t positive that you could read! Good for you!
Only Alonzo left, then Naylor will find a different home. Mets, Dback, and Mariners have needs at 1B?
D-Backs get Naylor, looks like Polar Bear goes to Mets on a short term deal
Look like the best team in league to me.
Weaksauce!
ALE needs to step up. Yanks are going for it – again.
Could it be….?
Cashman is really, really smart?
And lucky?
Its funny, but you gotta admit = He is the smartest guy in bsaeball.
lol did you mean to sign into another account to post this?
Please bring back Igawa. Bauer and Moncada might not be bad. Heck, I’d even check on Ordóñez, Alomar, and Belle. Lol happy holidays.
Wilpons sold the Mets and then moved into Hal’s pool house?
No. I am actually serious.
He’s held the best job in MLB for a long time.
That’s pretty smart.
Yankees rely on a lot of 30 somethings to be their best players. Has that ever worked? To a man, their best years are in the rear view.
Good move.
12.5 mil + 6 mil for Rizzo’s buyout, another older guy on the decline. Sounds great to me as a non Yankee fan.
“On the defensive side, Goldschmidt, a four-time Gold Glove winner, will undoubtedly play first base for the Yankees.” Why do you even need to say “on the defensive side?” Unnecessary.
Cheep
LolYankees
Should have forced the Cardinals to give him extension or trade him to a team that would after his 22 MVP season. He missed out on a lot of money.
The Cardinals had no reason to do either. How could Goldschmidt have forced them to do so? The only leverage a player has with an open contract is to threaten to retire, and Goldy wasn’t about to do that right after winning MVP.
(Technically, guys like Goldy with no trade rights can also block trades, but the Cardinals were never interested in trading him in the first place.)
Don’t these players sing those, what do you call them, contracts?
yankees will have a great offense in 2025. they just need judge to have another 10 war season, jazz and stanton to stay healthy, volpe and wells to take big steps forward, bellinger to outperform his metrics, goldschmidt to defeat father time and djlm or oswaldo to remember how to play baseball
The Yankees have solid right handed bats. They also have solid left handed bats in Wells, Jazz, Bellinger, and Dominguez. I would love one more left handed bat especially in Yankee stadium and they really need a leadoff hitter. I scoured mlb for a potential leadoff hitter who bats left handed and can play second or third. I came up with one possible player who would fit perfectly at third, bats left handed, and can leadoff in Sal Frelick. Frelick is a gold glove type outfielder but Milwaukee wanted to move him to third the past few years where they feel his glove, arm, and range would excel. Frelick can steal 30 bases in his sleep, he is a contact oriented batter who needs to work on his strikeout rate and walk more but he’s young and coming off a pretty blah season with tremendous upside. If the Yankees will go into the season with Peraza, DJ, and Cabrera or even the rookie South Korean left handed bat Kim and if Frelick becomes available at the all star break the Yankees should be in but the fact he’s coming off a down season I’m guessing right now is the time to try to acquire him. Thoughts?
I like this move for the Yankees.
Short term contract on a proven vet with very high club house presence. Gold glove caliber defence. Goldy may no longer be an MVP candidate but he is an upgrade.
How much is left in the tank?
Goldschmidt has enjoyed a productive career, but at 37 with a three year downward trend, fans should not expect him play like Chris Chambliss or Tino Martinez.
Just a two-year downward trend. Three seasons ago, he won NL MVP.
Point taken, though.
I’ll take gold-thong Giambi!
Bregman as a Yankee? Not happening.
Now the hard part comes for Goldschmidt, playing in New York, in front of some of the rudest fans in baseball. Good luck with that Paul.
Seems the Yankees are hell bent on buying a championship like they did in the 70’s.
Once again in my opinion the Yanks are low balling. The George days are long gone. You brought in another fading star to bat behind Judge who maybe will have a resurgence. But at 37 and last season had a .245 avg is going to ” protect ” Judge? It would have been better to bring in a real threat, like Santander, put him in left and hit 10 points lower, but is a real HR threat to protect Judge. The Yankees off season moves don’t add up to Soto’s production. They could use a real productive 3rd baseman as well, but they refuse to take on more payroll like Alex Bregman, a career .272 hitter and 30 years old. In baseball anything can happen. and hearing that Roki Sasaki doesn’t want any players at initial meetings put the Dodgers with the same chances as other interested teams. But that still remains to be seen. . . . .