The Yankees are adding former MVPs left and right to go with 2024 AL winner Aaron Judge.
The latest is Paul Goldschmidt, who was signed to a one-year, $12.5 million contract Saturday to fill the Yankees' first base hole.
Earlier in the week, the Yankees traded with the Cubs for another former MVP to fill one of their outfield openings, Cody Bellinger.
The Yankees finalized a deal with Goldschmidt one day after they lost out on free agent first baseman Christian Walker, who signed with the Astros for $60 million over three years.
The Yankees were hot for Walker, but not at the price Houston paid.
The Yankees were interested all along in Goldschmidt, but they had to wait until he dropped his demands on a two-year deal.
Goldschmidt, 37, won the NL MVP in 2022 playing for the Cardinals, but he's coming off his worst season. In 154 games with St. Louis, he hit 22 homers with 65 RBI and a .716 OPS.
This was the first time in Goldschmidt's 14 seasons that he had an OPS under .800. Also, he matched his career-high with 173 strikeouts.
To his credit, Goldschmidt did finish the season on a high, as he hit .330 with three homers and 15 RBI in his last 30 games from Aug. 27 to Sept. 29.
One of the biggest differences in Goldschmidt last season from his MVP year was he wasn't catching up to fastballs like he had.
Last year, he batted .254 on fastballs with a 26 percent strikeout rate. In 2022, he hit .319 on fastballs with an 18 percent K rate.
A seven-time All-Star, Goldschmidt is a career .289 hitter with 362 homers playing for the Diamondbacks (2011-18) and Cardinals (2019-24).
Goldschmidt will replace Anthony Rizzo as the Yankees' first baseman.
Rizzo, 35, is a free agent coming off two seasons in a row that were filled with injuries and struggles.
The Goldschmidt signing came one day after the Yankees traded No. 2 catcher Jose Trevino to the Reds for veteran reliever Fernando Cruz and journeyman catcher Alex Jackson.
Since the Yankees found out on Dec. 9 that free agent Juan Soto picked the Mets over their $760 offer, GM Brian Cashman has improved the starting rotation by signing left-hander Max Fried to a $218-million contract and Devin Williams, one of the top closers in the majors, was acquired in a trade with the Brewers in addition to two former MVPs added to the lineup, Bellinger and Goldschmidt.