New York Yankees join historic company by signing former MVP Paul Goldschmidt

The New York Yankees have focused on big-name, proven talent so far this winter, and that trend continued as they reached an agreement with free agent first baseman Paul Goldschmidt on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Goldschmidt was voted NL MVP in 2022 with the St. Louis Cardinals, not to mention his three top-three finishes with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2010s. His arrival in the Bronx comes just days after the Yankees acquired 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger in a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Cubs.

The pair joins a roster that already featured two-time AL MVP Aaron Judge and 2017 NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton, preparing New York to make history in 2025.

The Yankees are just the seventh team in MLB history to have four former MVPs appear in a single season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers accomplished this feat in 2024, 2022 and 2021, despite starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw being a former MVP winner on all three rosters. The 1996 Boston Red Sox had a similar dynamic, with Roger Clemens starring alongside Jose Canseco, Kevin Mitchell and Mo Vaughn.

Therefore, the 2025 Yankees will join the 1982 California Angels and the 1978 Cincinnati Reds as the only teams to ever have MVPs with four position players. California featured Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Fred Lynn and Don Baylor, while Cincinnati featured George Foster, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench.

Bellinger, who was part of the Dodgers’ star-studded roster in 2021 and 2022, will be the only player to ever play on multiple different teams with four MVPs.

Goldschmidt and Bellinger effectively replace Juan Soto and Anthony Rizzo, the former of whom signed a $765 million contract with the New York Mets and the latter of whom is still a free agent. Soto, 26, finished second for NL MVP in 2021 and second for AL MVP in 2024, while Rizzo, 35, finished fourth in NL MVP voting in both 2015 and 2016.

Both Goldschmidt and Bellinger are years behind, so it’s not like the Yankees are getting four MVPs in their prime. Judge is truly the only one currently operating at the peak of his powers, although the other three have still proven effective at this point in their respective careers.

Before the 2024 Dodgers, none of the other four MVP teams had even reached a World Series, let alone won one.

Judge, Stanton, Goldschmidt and Bellinger combined for a WAR of 15.0 in 2024, with Judge accounting for 10.8 of that. The Dodgers’ four 2024 MVPs came from a 2023 season in which they posted a cumulative WAR of 28.5.

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