Judge and GM: Yankees captain's sketchy track record casts doubt on Paul Goldschmidt

The New York Yankees signed Paul Goldschmidt to man first base this coming season. Goldschmidt, now 37 years old, is coming off the worst campaign of his career, and is clearly showing signs of decline. Some projections list Goldschmidt as the Yankees likely cleanup hitter, which I cannot recommend any less.

New York could've gone with a proven option, such as Christian Walker, who signed with the Houston Astros instead. Heck, Cody Bellinger has experience at first base and openly campaigned to switch positions when he was acquired. Yet, Goldschmidt is the answer. Something isn't adding up here.

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Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge go way back with the Yankees

In an article by Chris Kirschner of The Athletic about the Goldschmidt signing, the Yankees beat writer detailed how close the veteran first baseman is to Yankees captain Aaron Judge. Sometimes, it's all about who you know.

"In the spring of 2023, the reigning MVPs of the American and National Leagues —Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt — convened in a Tampa, Fla. batting cage with a singular goal: What can they learn from one another so they can inflict even more damage on opposing pitchers? Nearly two years later, the two are now teammates," Kirschner wrote to open his piece.

Yes, you read that correctly – Judge and Goldschmidt are friends. No, there is no overwhelming proof that Judge had anything to do with the Yankees signing Goldschmidt. However, executives always take clubhouse fit into account when making these moves, and the Yankees captain knowing Goldschmidt well couldn't have hurt matters.

The Yankees have a pattern of targeting glue guys who fit well in the clubhouse, but perhaps aren't always the most natural talent on the field. Look no further than Anthony Rizzo, who was one of Judge's best friends on the team but posted an 85 wRC+, the worst mark among all first basemen with at least 350 plate appearances per FanGraphs. Goldschmidt wasn't much better, and finished the season a league-average hitter.

“This is probably the worst I’ve performed on the field in my career,” Goldschmidt said at the end of the Cardinals season. “That was disappointing, a good bit of that burden was on me. If I could’ve played how I believe I’m capable of playing, we could’ve won more games and maybe this might have turned out differently.”

The Yankees front office must be an optimistic bunch, because taking a swing on a rapidly-aging veteran coming off his worst season is certainly a choice, and not the one I would've made.

Hopefully Brian Cashman knows something we don't.