Yankees immediately land first baseman after one of Brian Cashman's biggest misses

Brian Cashman's biggest miss of the offseason, obviously, was Juan Soto, but Soto wasn't the only ideal New York Yankees target who ended up elsewhere. Another target who made a ton of sense for the Yankees and signed elsewhere was Christian Walker, who inked a three-year deal with the Houston Astros.

Walker offered seemingly everything that the Yankees would've looked for in a first baseman. Not only does he provide elite power and defense, but he signed a fairly team-friendly deal with Houston. For whatever reason, the Yankees refused to top the offer and bring Walker to the Bronx.

Well, not even 24 hours after missing out on Walker, the Yankees pivoted and landed their first baseman, inking Paul Goldschmidt on a one-year deal, according to Jack Curry of the YES Network. Bob Nightengale of USA Today notes that the deal is worth $12.5 million.

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Yankees pivot following Christian Walker miss, sign Paul Goldschmidt to fill 1B vacancy

Had this been a couple of years ago, this would've been groundbreaking news. Goldschmidt was the National League MVP winner in 2022, and showed no signs of slowing down. Unfortunately, he had a down year in 2023, and had easily his worst season in 2024.

Goldschmidt slashed .245/.302/.414 this past season with 22 home runs and 65 RBI in 154 games for the St. Louis Cardinals. The 22 home runs were the fewest he's hit in a full season (excluding 2020) since 2014 (when he missed time due to injury), and his .716 OPS was a career-low. In fact, it was nearly 100 points lower than his previous low.

With that in mind, signing a 37-year-old who is clearly regressing both at the plate and in the field doesn't sound so enticing even if it's a possible future Hall of Famer. However, there's more to get excited about than the base numbers let on.

First, as Curry notes, Goldschmidt pummeled left-handed pitching this past season, posting a .839 OPS against southpaws. Additionally, Goldschmidt had a somewhat promising second half, hitting .271 with a .799 OPS. He didn't put up star numbers down the stretch, but he certainly did show signs of life.

Lastly, while Goldschmidt isn't the star he once was, he's a clear upgrade over what New York had. Yankees first basemen ranked 29th in the majors with a 76 WRC+ and 27th in the majors with -1.1 fWAR. Goldschmidt, in a down year, had a 100 WRC+ and was worth 1.1 fWAR.

There's reason to believe Goldschmidt can find a way to bounce back given how he finished last season, how he crushed left-handed pitching, and now that he's moving on from a Cardinals team that missed the postseason to a Yankees team coming off a World Series appearance. A winning environment could be what he needs to show flashes of his former MVP self.

Is this the move most Yankees fans wanted? Almost certainly not. It is one, however, with little risk, and the chance for very real reward. Goldschmidt might not be what he once was, but he's probably better than he was in 2024. Even if he's merely average, he's a clear upgrade over what the Yankees trotted out at the position when they made the World Series. That, at the very least, is something for Yankees fans to hang their hats on.