Two years before they became Yankee teammates, Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge spent a few hours together in Tampa, Fla.
Goldschmidt, who was then the reigning National League MVP, and Judge, who had just won his first American League MVP, took some swings together that day in January 2023, hoping to help each other get even better at their respective crafts.
“I don’t know him extremely well,” Goldschmidt said Thursday during an introductory Zoom call.
“I got the opportunity to meet him and stayed in touch with him. I know it was written how we got together a few years ago and hit. That’s something I’ve always tried to do, find great hitters or great players or coaches and just try to seek them out and try to learn from them. That was great.”
Judge and Goldschmidt have plenty of time to get to know each other better now.
Goldschmidt, 37, signed a one-year, $12.5 million contract to be the Yankees’ first baseman, adding a fourth former MVP — along with Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger — for manager Aaron Boone to plug into the lineup.
The signing concluded the first-ever foray into free agency for Goldschmidt, who spent his first eight MLB seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the last six with the St. Louis Cardinals.
“There was definitely a level of comfort, just understanding and knowing guys like Judge,” Goldschmidt said of choosing the Yankees. “Stanton and I played on Team USA [in the 2017 World Baseball Classic]. Even Booney, he used to live in Arizona before he took the job here. Him and I lived in the same neighborhood, so I knew him.”
The Yankees hope Goldschmidt can be part of the solution for replacing superstar slugger Juan Soto, who left last month for a record-setting 15-year, $765 million contract with the crosstown Mets.
Goldschmidt, a seven-time All-Star with 362 home runs, is coming off of a down season in which he hit a career-low .245 with 22 homers and a career-worst .716 OPS.
But Goldschmidt delivered a .271 average and a .799 OPS in the second half, a turnaround he attributes to mechanical and mental adjustments.
Goldschmidt, a right-handed hitter with power to all fields, stands to benefit from playing his home games at Yankee Stadium, where the short porch in right field is just 314 feet down the line.
In six career games at Yankee Stadium — including three last summer — Goldschmidt boasts a .462 average, four doubles, a home run and a 1.192 OPS over 27 plate appearances.
“Just to feel the energy walking out of the dugout, that was really fun,” Goldschmidt said of last year’s trip to the Bronx. “It was something I was excited about. The energy’s high every game there and something I’m looking forward to.”
A four-time Gold Glove winner, Goldschmidt replaces first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who struggled with injuries the last two seasons.
The addition of Goldschmidt came amid a busy offseason in which the Yankees also signed left-hander Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract and swung trades for Bellinger, who can play multiple outfield positions, and star closer Devin Williams.
They join a World Series-hopeful roster headlined by Judge, who won his second AL MVP last year after leading MLB batters with 58 home runs, 144 RBI and a 1.159 OPS.
“He’s one of the best hitters in the world, maybe the best hitter,” Goldschmidt said, “and as a right-handed power hitter, [is] a guy that I’m very, very excited to play with and get to see him work every day.”