Yankees Facing Paul Goldschmidt Decision in Near Future
When the New York Yankees decided to bring Paul Goldschmidt back during the offseason, they envisioned him as a valuable depth piece.
The 38-year-old first baseman could step in when the emerging Ben Rice needed a day off, and his mastery against left-handed pitching gives the Yankees a dangerous platoon option. But while Rice has fulfilled the Yankees' faith in him, developing into one of MLB's best first basemen, Goldschmidt has also taken full advantage of his opportunities.
Goldschmidt began seeing more time in the everyday lineup when Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Dominguez landed on the injured list. After a two-hit game against the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, he's now hitting .287/.366/.524 with eight doubles, eight home runs, 28 RBI and a 150 wRC+. The 16-year veteran already amassed 1.3 fWAR in 42 games after posting a 0.8 mark in 146 contests last year.
Paul Goldschmidt starts the scoring in Cleveland with a 2-run blast pic.twitter.com/0WrtRh8pnV
— MLB (@MLB) June 8, 2026
Goldschmidt's terrific play, however, has continued while the aforementioned Stanton and Dominguez make progress in their returns from injury. Earlier this week, Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed that Stanton could come back during the team's homestand next week. As for Dominguez, he's begun a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and immediately tallied three hits.
Aaron Boone said Jasson Domínguez will play 5-7 innings on his rehab assignment on Tuesday and Wednesday.
— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) June 8, 2026
Boone also said Giancarlo Stanton could "hopefully" return "sometime next homestand, but we'll see." #Yankees
Stanton will return to DH duties when he come back, while Dominguez can also see time there. This would cut into Goldschmidt's at-bats, as he and Rice have split time between first base and DH lately due to both injuries and their strong offensive outputs. With Rice playing like an AL MVP candidate, he'd get the lion's share of time at first base (as the team originally envisioned).
One way to keep Goldschmidt in the lineup when reinforcements arrive would be moving Rice behind the plate, as he is a catcher by trade. The Yankees have seen near-nonexistent production from their catchers this season, and this was exacerbated by starting backstop Austin Wells landing on the injured list last weekend. However, Boone is hesitant to make this move, as he doesn't want the added defensive responsibilities behind the plate to mess with Rice's offensive production.
Perhaps this would become an easier decision to make if Goldschmidt's bat loses steam. But as the 38-year-old future Hall of Famer enjoys an impressive resurgence, the Yankees should try to ride his hot hitting for as long as possible.
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 2:01 PM.