{"id":543505,"date":"2026-01-29T04:17:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/543505\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T04:17:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T04:17:24","slug":"mlb-rumors-ny-yankees-diamondbacks-linked-to-veteran-slugger-after-strong-lefty-season-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/543505\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Rumors: NY Yankees, Diamondbacks linked to veteran slugger after strong lefty season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/new-york-yankees\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Yankees<\/a> may be nearing the end of their offseason work, yet several notable names remain on the free\u2011agent market \u2014 including <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/paul-goldschmidt\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Paul Goldschmidt<\/a>. The veteran first baseman, who spent last season in New York, appeared in 146 games and posted a .274\/.328\/.403 slash line with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">While his power against right-handed pitching has declined, Goldschmidt remained a dangerous threat against left-handed pitching, posting a .336\/.411\/.570 line in 168 plate appearances.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">As teams look to balance veteran presence with lineup flexibility, the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees have emerged as logical fits for Goldschmidt. Both clubs could leverage his success against lefties, either in a platoon role or as a complementary bat to their existing roster.<\/p>\n<p>How could Goldschmidt fit in 2026?<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">According to analysts, Goldschmidt\u2019s continued value largely depends on his willingness to accept a reduced role. \u201cThe question is how willing he will be to accept a diminished role to prolong his career. A reunion with the D-backs still looks like a logical fit, while the Yankees could also bring him back to platoon with Ben Rice,\u201d wrote Bleacher Report\u2019s Jared Bloom.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Goldschmidt-1920x1080.webp.webp\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" alt=\"Paul Goldschmidt #48 of the Yankees in action during the game against the Orioles. Ishika Samant\/Getty Images\" class=\"h-auto\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-center mt-5 text-[14px] leading-[20px] font-normal\">Paul Goldschmidt #48 of the Yankees in action during the game against the Orioles. Ishika Samant\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"paragraph\" class=\"mb-[20px] md:mb-[30px] break-word\">If Goldschmidt embraces favorable matchups and a platoon setup, he could remain a key contributor despite declining overall power. Teams in need of a lefty specialist or experienced hitter might find his skill set particularly appealing for roster depth heading into the new <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/mlb\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"break-word font-articleLinkText text-articleLinkText hover:text-articleLinkTextHover hover:bg-articleLinkTextHoverBg cursor-pointer border-solid border-b-articleLinkTextHover\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MLB<\/a> season.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"MLB Rumors: Mariners, Reds among suitors for 49-home run slugger as Spring Training approaches\" href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/mlb\/mlb-rumors-mariners-reds-among-suitors-for-49-home-run-slugger-as-spring-training-approaches\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" class=\"article-also-read-embed\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aspect-square max-w-[100px] m-[10px] md:m-0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/eugenio-suarez-1-200x200.webp.webp\" alt=\"MLB Rumors: Mariners, Reds among suitors for 49-home run slugger as Spring Training approaches\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"font-secondary my-[13px] uppercase text-alsoReadSeeAlso bg-alsoReadSeeAlsoBackground alsoReadSeeAlso w-fit\">see also<\/p>\n<p class=\"w-full line-clamp-3 md:line-clamp-2 text-alsoReadEmbedTitle font-primary alsoReadLink\">MLB Rumors: Mariners, Reds among suitors for 49-home run slugger as Spring Training approaches<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"w-full mb-[5px] md:mb-[11px] text-articlePollEmbedTitleMobile md:text-articlePollEmbedTitle font-secondary\">SurveyShould Paul Goldschmidt accept a platoon role to extend his career?<\/p>\n<p class=\"block md:hidden font-bold mb-[9px] text-articlePollText text-articlePollEmbedTitleMobile md:text-articlePollEmbedTitle font-secondary tracking-normal\">Should Paul Goldschmidt accept a platoon role to extend his career?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Yankees may be nearing the end of their offseason work, yet several notable names remain&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2404],"tags":[146,22,4314,5,38,4,62,118],"class_list":{"0":"post-543505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-diamondbacks","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-diamondbacks","10":"tag-arizonadiamondbacks","11":"tag-baseball","12":"tag-diamondbacks","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-new-york-yankees","15":"tag-paul-goldschmidt"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115976461084302209","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}