MLB: St. Louis Cardinals at San Francisco Giants - Source: ImagnMLB 2025 Opening Day: 100 Players to watch out for ahead of new season | Paul Goldschmidt, No. 95 (Imagn)

Paul Goldschmidt, who was one of the top first base free agents on the market this season, signed with the New York Yankees. He’s 37, which means every year could be his last. Ahead of that, he is firmly in the spotlight.

Until Opening Day, which is 95 days away, Sportskeeda is going to count down with featured players, examining what they’ve done in the past as well as offering some predictions for how they’ll do in 2025. Trout comes in as the next player on the countdown.

The New York Yankees just signed Goldschmidt to a one-year, $12.75 million contract. He joins the pinstripes in the twilight years, and he’s coming off a rather rough season last year.

The St. Louis Cardinals infielder had a career-worst 100 wRC+ and a 1.1 fWAR. That is still a league-average wRC+, and Goldschmidt is far from a negative player even at this stage of his career.

He hit .245 with a .302 on-base percentage. In the second half of the season, his OPS was close to .800, so he had a bit of a resurgence there that might be cause for optimism in New York.

Predicting Paul Goldschmidt’s season with the Yankees

The Yankees and Cardinals have average parks for hitters. They have a Baseball Savant park factor of 100, which means they’re relatively neutral to hitters and pitchers.

That means any regression or improvement won’t be because he is in a more favorable situation. If anything, it might be slightly worse, as Yankee Stadium ranks 17th while Busch Stadium is 14th. Most metrics that go into this are pretty similar between the two stadiums.

However, it’s worth noting that Goldschmidt’s 22 home runs would have been 25 in Yankee Stadium, so his power might tick up a little bit in New York. Plus, he will be in a stronger lineup with more protection and RBI chances.

Paul Goldschmidt has landed in the Bronx (Imagn)Paul Goldschmidt has landed in the Bronx (Imagn)

In St. Louis, Goldschmidt, even as a purely league-average hitter, hit third most of the time. In New York, the first baseman may not bat any higher than six, and could be in the bottom third of the lineup.

He will have players like Aaron Judge, Jazz Chisholm, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton in front of him, so he will likely see more pitches to hit. That should be enough to offset the age regression.

Fangraphs projects a bit of a return to form with a 114 wRC+, .250 batting average, 24 home runs, 82 RBI, and 1.9 fWAR.

Our prediction: Goldschmidt’s new, competitive environment and his improved surrounding lineup lead to an increase in production that’s just enough to offset his age-induced regression: .253 average, 26 home runs, 107 wRC+, and 2.1 fWAR.