Yankees Rumors: Buster Olney speculates on Paul Goldschmidt

While the postseason rings on for some, it’s already #rumorszn for the Yankees. Courtesy of ESPN’s Buster Olney, the latest one involves Diamondbacks first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt.

The Yankees season ended one week ago, and already the possibilities for roster changes are endless.

While we’ve read in-depth about how the Yanks plan to make starting pitcher their No. 1 priority this winter, with Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin at the top of the list, ESPN’s Buster Olney took to Twitter on Sunday to speculate that another player currently plying his trade in Arizona could be a fit in New York — first baseman Paul Goldschmidt.

"As has been reported, the D-Backs will listen to offers on their best players, including Paul Goldschmidt. Most contenders are locked in at 1B for 2019; the Cubs have Rizzo, for example. Total speculation: One team that could be a great fit for a Goldschmidt deal — the Yankees.This is all speculation… To add: for Goldschmidt, hitting in Yankee Stadium as he went through his free-agent season, in the middle of a deep lineup, could be a great development for him, as well."

The immediate response to Olney’s sensible tweet is, “well what about Luke Voit?” The 27-year-old offered a massive spark for the Yanks once he began receiving regular playing time during the second week of August — this, after a brief demotion to Triple-A Stanton.

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In 39 games with the Yankees, Voit slashed .333/.405/.689 with 28 runs scored, 15 home runs and 38 RBIs in 132 at-bats. Without a doubt, Voit’s intensity and surprising power were critical to the Yanks holding off the A’s for the first Wild Card spot.

Though Voit only made two errors in 270 innings at first base, he put up a -5 Rtot, -7Rdrs, -22 Rtot/yr and a -29 Rdrd/yr. To me, Voit is a prototypical DH, which would require Giancarlo Stanton to play left field every day. Even still, the Bombers have to hope what they got from Voit in the second half of the season was more than a shot in the pan. Perhaps Voit is merely a late-bloomer and not Shane Spencer.

With Greg Bird’s days in New York seemingly numbered following his exclusion from the playoff roster, perhaps Brian Cashman can pawn off Bird’s three years of controllability and three remaining minor league options on Arizona, as part of a deal.

The potential of adding Goldschmidt, who is in his final $14.5 million option year is indeed intriguing enough to explore. At 31, Goldy is a three-time Gold Glove winner, six-time All-Star and three-time Silver Slugger.

Despite an incredibly slow start to the 2018 season, Goldy still managed to slash .290/.389/.533 with 95 runs scored, 33 homers and 83 RBIs. If he can cut down on his career-high 173 strikeouts, Goldy should be able to raise his OBP to the 400s where it’s been 50 percent of his big league career.

Due to his contract running out, Arizona can’t expect a massive haul for their stellar first baseman. With talk of also trading veteran right-hander Zack Greinke (not to New York), the Diamondbacks could be looking at another rebuild which plays perfectly to the Yanks’ deep minor league system.

Goldschmidt’s career 40.1 WAR over the past eight seasons is second only to the incomparable Mike Trout. The bottom line is if the Yanks can acquire an All-Star first baseman on both sides of the ball, in the prime of his career, they ought to do so. Goldy’s presence alone would make the Yankee infield stronger and offer more confidence to ground ball reliant pitchers.