Aaron Judge will determine if the Yankees’ addition of Paul Goldschmidt is successful or not.
There are several grounds to think that Paul Goldschmidt, 37, will make a full recovery in 2025. The Yankees’ most crucial player, Aaron Judge, believes in him, which is why we have the opportunity to see if the pinstripes can perform their magic once more.
Like Judge, Goldschmidt is hungry. He has been an integral part of the wallpaper in Arizona and St. Louis, and he symbolizes the fabric of a close-knit clubhouse. He has no ring. He made up for his shortcomings in the second part of the previous season by tattooing left-handed pitching and reducing swing-and-mess. In their twilight years, the Yankees of the 1990s used to thrive on bringing in players like him for a final chance at success. It’s likely that some of his hardscrabble, long-lasting fly outs may turn into home runs in the Bronx. He may be the greatest choice and the best deal for a Yankees club that is struggling in a strange market where first basemen were dropping like Turbo Man toys last weekend.
One thing is certain, though: the Yankees had no interest in doubling down and would have rather forfeited their draft pick compensation for Max Fried, regardless of whether they were ever “close” on Christian Walker. Additionally, they eschewed Josh Naylor (PS: Cleveland would never) and Nathaniel Lowe in favor of using cash rather than pitching depth to get a slugger to hold down first base.
Judge probably pushed this deal through the finish line when it came to that. The two parties’ tight relationship is clear from an article in Athletic about how, as the defending MVPs in the 2022–2023 summer, they actively sought each other out and worked tirelessly to improve as the game came together to slow them down.
This is a story about a day that Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge spent together in January of last year. @ChrisKirschner, @BrendanKutyNJ, and @ByMcCullough wrote this. This link: https://t.co/lRuV17NOEN
The user @Ken_Rosenthal is Ken Rosenthal. Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge of the Yankees share an MVP connection on December 21, 2024, which might make or break the 2025 squad.
It would be dishonest to imply, with no inside knowledge, that Judge lobbied for Goldschmidt above all viable possibilities at the outset of the offseason. However, it is very probable that the Yankees sought Judge’s opinion on the remaining group once they clarified their objectives and established a boundary for new qualifying offer free agents.
Naylor would be as poisonous as Goldschmidt would be uniting. Lowe being an available slugger on a team effectively attempting to contend bathes him in red flags. Carlos Santana cost Goldschmidt’s price, is two years older, and opted to go home to Cleveland. You may make the logical case for spending on Walker, but Goldschmidt is the apparent front-runner among the remaining short-term possibilities.
Judge also thinks he has the potential to be great, and the Captain’s comfort is important, particularly since Juan Soto passed away. With so much roster turnover in 2025, the Yankees need Judge to be surrounded by reliable people, whether that matters to you as a fan or not. Fans will band together with pitchforks and megaphones, ready to point the finger at Judge if Goldschmidt has trouble (and ignoring Cashman’s unwillingness to narrow out the draft pool). That’s okay—as long as they’re ready to give Judge credit if his counsel was correct.
Leave a Reply