Paul Goldschmidt is not ready to hang up his spikes yet. In speaking to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the first baseman simply stated, “I love playing,” indicating that he intends to return for what would be his 16th major league season in 2026.
Goldschmidt, who turned 38 in September, is a seven-time All Star and one of the best first basemen of his generation. He has batted .288/.378/.504 in his career, good for a 137 wRC+ and a 63.8 bWAR which ranks seventh among all active players. His 372 home runs and 1,232 RBI rank third and second among active hitters, respectively. Goldschmidt shined in his eight years with the Diamondbacks before being traded to the Cardinals prior to the 2019 season. He continued to perform well in St. Louis, winning the NL MVP Award in 2022 after posting a .317/.404/578 batting line with 35 home runs and 115 RBI in 151 games in his age-34 season.
His offensive numbers have declined since then. After posting a 175 wRC+ in his MVP season, that number fell to 122 in 2023 and 100 in 2024 – essentially league average. The Cardinals did not re-sign him in free agency, and he ultimately landed with the Yankees on a one-year, $12.5MM pact. In 534 plate appearances spanning 146 games, Goldschmidt batted .274/.328/.403 and again graded out as league average with a 103 wRC+. Interestingly, after seeing his power numbers decline in his last two years with the Cardinals, Goldschmidt adopted a more contact-heavy approach at the plate in 2025. He cut his strikeout rate from 26.5% to 18.7% and made contact on 86.0% of pitches in the strike zone, up from 79.8% in 2024.
This new approach led to some initial success, as Goldschmidt batted .338 in 232 plate appearances through the end of May and posting a 148 wRC+. However, he then hit just .143 in 94 plate appearances in June. While he recovered to hit .261 from July through the end of the year, that was good for just an 87 wRC+. As the year went on, Goldschmidt ceded more playing time to Ben Rice, and he ultimately started just two of his six games played in the postseason before the Yankees were eliminated by the Blue Jays. All told, Goldschmidt was worth a career-low 0.8 fWAR in 2025.
His offensive decline notwithstanding, Goldschmidt’s defense this year was serviceable. In 1,029 innings at first base, he was valued at -1 Defensive Runs Saved, tied for ninth among qualified first basemen, as well as -3 Outs Above Average, which ranked 13th. Statcast viewed his contributions more negatively, giving him a 33rd-percentile Fielding Run Value. Defensive metrics are notoriously tricky, of course, and indeed, the numbers on Goldschmidt have fluctuated throughout his career. At the very least, he provided a stable presence for the Yankees at the cold corner after witnessing Anthony Rizzo’s concussion- and age-related decline in the prior two seasons.
In all, Goldschmidt projects to have a tougher time on the market than he did last offseason. His age will limit him to another one-year deal, and it is questionable whether teams will continue to view him as a starter given his now middling offense. First basemen tend to be strong hitters, and in 2025, they posted a collective 109 wRC+, whereas Goldschmidt was valued at 103 wRC+. His increased contact might offer some optimism, but it is also likely that he is simply declining due to age. However, he could find success in a platoon role. In 168 plate appearances against southpaws this year, Goldschmidt batted .336/.411/.570 with a strikeout rate of just 11.3%, good for a 169 wRC+. If a team could minimize his exposure to same-handed pitchers, he might see more sustained success over the course of a season.
As it stands, the free agent class of first basemen is headlined by Pete Alonso and Josh Naylor, with names like Ryan O’Hearn, Luis Arraez, and Josh Bell making up the second tier. Alonso is the best option on offense, while O’Hearn is arguably the best defender of the bunch, as he was valued at 4 DRS and 6 OAA as a first baseman during the regular season. Goldschmidt would represent a solid platoon bat and a serviceable defender for those who miss out on Alonso and Naylor, so he might command a one-year deal with a lower guarantee than his deal with the Yankees.
Half the man he used to be.
This I feel as the dawn, it fades to gray
Considering how dominant he used to be, that still makes for a decent player.
still a HOF player though
Def not
Def not based off what? The only thing hes really missing is benchmark milestones. Hes also a little shy as far as avg black ink, he makes up for that on the gray ink side. That reflects what a well polished all around bat he was at his peak.
As far as being great he won a MVP and had 4 or 5 other top 5 finishes as well as numerous top 10 finishes. The guy was consistently great or very very good, but typically great. Id say he gets in around year 3 of eligibility. If he continues play and off chance he puts up a big year I think it could push him to first ballot. His accumulated stats collectively are already right there as far as avg HOF. He was truly a force at his peak.
He kind of fell off a cliff after May, but he can probably help some team, even as a platoon bat. His power disappeared this year.
He might be a solid platoon fit at 1B with Busch on the Cubs. Probly better production than Turner had in that role this season.
A likely HOFer with 63.8 career WAR per B-Ref.
I think Goldschmidt is comparable to Votto. I think they are both in the HOF by a hair, but really a close call.
Man. We’re just letting anyone in now, huh? After Harold Baines, it’s turned into the Hall of Good players. Goldschmidt
You don’t know ball
I mean, 63.8 bWAR is just .6 less than Freeman and I’d say he’s a shoo-in. Borderline top 150 all-time, just behind HOFers Andre Dawson, Duke Snider, Goose Goslin, Craig Biggio, Ed Walsh, and Don Sutton… so I wouldn’t say we’re letting anyone in “now.” It’s been happening, considering a few of those guys were inducted last century.
I mean, look at some of the early guys who were inducted, like Chick Hafey. Dude barely broke 30 bWAR.
Goldschmidt is clearly more deserving than Baines at the very least.
Baines is not even worth mentioning for comparison, 2 wrongs dont make a right. Baines situation was a worst case scenario that came to be with biased influencing Vet Committee vote.
As far as Goldy and Votto, I dont think either gets in first year but both seem pretty obvious HOF. They both only won 1 MVP, but both were regularly in top 5 or 10 for a decade plus.
They also both lack a bit in black ink but are heavy in gray ink. In both cases its a good reflection of how all around dominant they were at the plate.
The HOF is roughly the top 1% of players all time. They easily would be in that group if all were ranked. People often fail to realize, being best bat just on one’s team for a decade thats 1/25 or 4%. I just threw that out there as people here 1% and the perception is way to narrow.
Technically, the best bat on the team would be 1/12 or 1/13 and would exclude defense and baserunning, Your point would work for the best player on the team, although sometimes it’s hard to compare the best hitter and best pitcher on a team.
What happened to this guy? 3 years ago he was MVP
He woke up and was 38. Age catches up to everyone eventually.
Come back to AZ. We will have you as a platoon 1B & DH with Pavin.. Would be a great swan song for a great human! Make it happen Hazen
that would actually be cool to see. if he is ready to be a part-time 1B / DH / PH guy he could have a nice role
Pitching velocity is up across the board and at 37 and 38 his bat slowed down.
He’s 38….age catches us all.
Not even close to HoF
He’s not first ballot, but the writers will vote him in. Votto, too.
I just don’t see it, he had a great peak, but at first base he’s basically will Clark, Clark better defensively, goldy better in power
Borderline HoF. 372 HR, 1 MVP(consistent votes), couple of mediocre years during prime, plenty of AS and a few GG and SS, no postseason moments.
Not in my hall but a really good player. The mediocre play during his prime, primarily 1B and no postseason moments holding him back
Agree. Borderline but probably gets in at some point.
I could see the Braves moving on from Ozuna and going after Goldy for DH.
They’re probably gonna switch Baldwin and Murphy back and forth between catcher/DH I reckon.
I actually thought he would have been a good 1 year deal with SD last year but timing of family ownership issues put a hold on early signings. If SD can’t get Naylor (back) then I’d say a platoon with Sheets would be worth a reasonable investment much lower than 2025 contract.
If Stanton wasn’t on the Yankees, I would re-sign him to face lefties. Plenty left in the tank.
Stanton only makes 19 million next year. It’s time to buy him out like DJL. Or trade him and pay his salary. I wish that all I want, however realistic, the Yankees won’t do it until he gets 500 home runs as a Yankee. Goldy back to Arizona for one more year
Meh… The Yankees share goes down to $15 million in ’27. 2028 is a club option that costs them $15 mil to retain him vs. a $10 million buyout. All told, he costs them only another $39 million for the next three years.
But doesn’t he still count as $22m each of the next two seasons against the luxury tax.
Dude, he just put up a .944 OPS and 158 OPS+.
Buy him out like DJL? Not in a million years.
Does anybody want HIM to play though? It’s the old 2 way street philosophy.
The Diamondbacks don’t have a first baseman and it would make the fans here rock hard to see him in the correct jersey again.
Was a great player, and played a team first role for the Yankees. I wish him all the best but he doesn’t fit in the Bronx going forward. He mashed for 2 months and than his BABIP luck dried up with his power.
He’ll receive a similar contract offer this offseason like Rizzo did last offseason
Sucks to see Father Time coming for this guy. I remember when he used to absolutely tie my Giants in knots.
He quite literally murdered Big Time Timmy Jim, it was a beautiful time in my life.
One of 30 teams if any will tell him whether he keeps playing.
DBACKS
He’s already got his Hall of Fame selection locked up (albeit likely not on the first ballot), but adding some more counting numbers to his career stats would still be nice, especially if he can get to 400 home runs over the next couple of years.
He’s not getting in
There are 17 first basemen with worse numbers than him in the HOF and the only players better than him that aren’t in are not yet eligible or were denied for steroid use. He will be in the hall eventually.
How is he different from will Clark? Who never got even past the first ballot?
More WAR 100 more home runs and more hits.
you are really gonna get your feelings hurt about this one
Nope
For his HOF chances, I think we need to compare him to the three most recent 1B to enter OR soon to be considered. Jeff Bagwell, Todd Helton, Joey Votto. I am just going to use basic stats for time, but you can feel free to dig deeper if you want.
Helton – 2519 hits, 369 homers, .1406 RBIs, 316/.414/.539 slash line
Bagwell – 2314 hits, 449 homers, 1529 RBIs, .297/.408/.540 slash line
Votto – 2135 hits, 356 homers, 1144 RBIs, .294/.409/.511 slash line
Goldy – 2190 hits, 372 homers, 1232 RBIs, .288/.378/.504 slash line
Just from a basic analysis it looks like Goldy (and Votto) is in the same ballpark, so they might get in after 5-7 years on the ballot In my opinion, Goldy might need another year or two of (declining) counting stats to secure that level. Getting to 400 homers would be key for me.
Of course, that is IF the voters were the same as the ones that put in Bagwell and Helton. But they are not. The crop of voters in 2031 or so will probably not even consider those numbers, at least not as much as people like myself.
For those curious
Mattingly – 2153 hits, 222 homers, 1099 RBIs, .307/.358/.471
McGriff – 2490 hits, 493 homers, 1550 RBIs, .284/.377/.509
McGwire – 1626 hits, 583 homers, 1414 RBIs, .263/.394/.588
Freeman – 2431 hits, 367 homers, 1322 RBIs, .300/.386/511
I was completelu unaware that McGwire’s career OBP was that high.
Let’s not forget that Goldschmidt was also an excellent defender in his prime, including winning 4 Gold Gloves. He also added significant value on the basepaths.
As I said, I just used basic stats for time. Right or wrong, for first basemen offense is always going to be considered more than defense or baserunning.
I would also argue Goldy should have won the MVP in 2013
I personally do not consider MVPs or Cy Youngs relevant to HOF discussion. Those awards are for a single season. Career totals is far more important when talking about the HOF. His career totals is why Nolan Ryan is considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time instead of just a guy that never won a Cy Young.
As far as 2013 goes, I agree with you. However it was a toss up since no one really dominated that year. There have been far worse MVP miscarriages that that one. And honestly after the Diamondbacks intentionally injuring McCutchen the next year, they lost all sympathy from me.
While defense and baserunning may be considered less, they are still important considerations, nonetheless. Also, baserunning is technically part of offense, just not part of hitting.
There are also basic stats for those aspects of the game you could’ve still quickly included such as fielding percentage, putouts, assists, stolen bases, and stolen base percentage.
@hiflew Nice work!
mlb.com/glossary/miscellaneous/jaws
baseball-reference.com/leaders/jaws_1B.shtml
(Click on grey bar for more.)
Both Votto and Goldy are already over the average JAWS score for HOF entry. The only players that don’t make it in which are over the average score are linked to PEDs, don’t have hardware, and/or had an insufficient peak period (quantity over quality).
That just brings up the discussion of what constitutes a HOF career to begin with. People often condemn someone as being a “compiler” and the “quantity over quality” comment. However, there are no players throughout history that teams will just let hang around until they get to certain numbers. And many great players don’t want to stick around once they can no longer be as great as they once were. Mike Schmidt comes immediately to mind.
Players stick around because they are still good enough to play in the league. I would argue that someone like Jesse Orosco or Jamie Moyer or Julio Franco that can still make a team in their mid 40s is pretty darn impressive in itself. I and 48 and sometimes struggle to get out of a chair on the first try and these guys were playing in the majors around that age.
That being said, it is called a HOF career, not a HOF peak. That is why Don Mattingly is not there. Or Dwight Gooden. Or Dale Murphy. Or many others that at one time were considered “shoo ins” for the Hall. You gotta have a good peak, but you need the quantity too.
Same for Bobby Abreu. Jose Ramirez will also probably linger on the ballot but I think he gets in eventually.
Ramirez is only 32. If has 3-5 more decent years I think he is first ballot.
I wouldn’t be against Abreu in the Hall, but I am not really for him either. He is probably right below the line for corner IF/OFs as far as offensive numbers. 2470 hits is not enough to offset the relatively small 288 homers to me. With that few homers, he would have to be somewhere much closer to 3000 hits to make me overlook the lack of power. He does have a lot of doubles though, and his walks were basically off the charts for years, so as I said a case for him could be made.
Although, there are exceptions when the peak is absolutely dominant and lasts quite a few years. The main example is Sandy Koufax. Buster Posey is expected to be another exception once he is eligible.
“in the same ballpark”
Goldy is 30+ points behind all 3 of the others in OBP, 30+ points behind Helton and Bagwell in slugging (and a few points behind Votto). “Same ballpark” is being generous. He’s clearly a step behind each of them.
@VegasMoved
I know it doesn’t feel like a large difference, but all of those guys played a larger portion of their respective careers during (or at the tail end of) the Steroid Era.
Goldschmidt is definitely one of their peers.
This smacks of a guardians move to platoon with Manzo. Fleece the fans with a past his prime big name flier. I hate my team. That playoff run was dope though.
They’ll wait to sign him until he turns 40
Silverschmidt.
Olerud became Olderdude.
Teke became Ant teke.
Veteran soft-side 1b/dh platoon with an aging but solid glove. He’ll find a contract.
I would love to have him back with the Cardinals for a veteran for the rebuild.
“100 in 2024 – essentially league average.” No, it’s literally league average
Bring him home
D’backs farewell tour?
He still hits lefties very well.
If the smart is. It prohibitive, and they don’t resign Turner, he’d be nice for the Cubs.
Turner did reasonably well against LHP, but is a defensive liability and better suited or DH only.
Goldy, it’s time to come home. You are an icon in the Valley. We miss you. Go out like Pujols did. Be a great mentor for the young guys. You will fit right in with the culture.
He’s a nice player…we don’t want it to be like the NFL HOF
Gonna be a great mentor and clubhouse presence for the Fish the next couple of years. I’ll buy the jersey.
While I agree that we don’t want the baseball HOF to become like the NFL HOF, it’s not going to be so if only 2-3 guys with historically great careers per position make the HOF. Arguably, the best players at 1st during Goldy’s career are: Votto, Goldly, and Freeman. I believe all three get into the hall. These three all played a little different but have historically great careers. Godly combined defense and baserunning with top ranking offense over more than a decade. I think being a great teammate in a team sport also matters. Personally, I am fine with Fred McGriff making the hall, but Goldy should get in compared to him and others that made it. People who say what you’re saying likely have cosmopolitan and east coast bias, not appreciating great players who rise to stardom in smaller markets. That is to say, it’s easier to see Freeman as HOF because he did great things as a Dodger.