Longtime Arizona Diamondbacks star Paul Goldschmidt is heading back to the New York Yankees for the 2026 season, ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported on Friday, officially quashing any possibility of a return to the Valley.
The Diamondbacks kicked the tires on a reunion with the 38-year-old given the club’s need for a right-handed first baseman to platoon with Pavin Smith, but they agreed to terms with Carlos Santana earlier this week for that role instead.
Santana agreed to a $2 million deal, while Goldschmidt is going back to New York for $5 million or less, according to the Associated Press.
Arizona Sports’ John Gambadoro posted that the D-backs and Goldschmidt were still talking as of last weekend.
Goldschmidt finished the 2025 season with a .274 average and .731 OPS in 146 games, both of which were better than his final season in St. Louis but well below his prime production.
After a blazing start with the Yankees, he cooled off and entered a platoon role down the stretch and into the postseason.
On May 16, he owned a .349 batting average with a .904 OPS. For the rest of the year, he hit .235 with a .641 OPS. He blasted 10 home runs, a career low — excluding the shortened 2020 campaign and his 48-game cup of coffee in 2011.
Goldschmidt still crushed lefties, however, hitting .336 with a .981 OPS and seven home runs when facing them. Only five players hit for a higher OPS against southpaws.
With Ben Rice ascending as a left-handed-hitting first baseman, Goldschmidt profiles as a weak-side platoon and veteran mentor for a Yankees team looking to get over the hump after losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS.
The Yankees have brought back several key contributors from that roster, including Goldschmidt, outfielder/first baseman Cody Bellinger and infielder Ahmed Rosario.
Goldschmidt will also play for Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic next month.
The Yankees go through spring training in Florida, but Team USA has two exhibition games before the WBC begins in Arizona, taking on the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on March 3 and the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields on March 4.
