Yankees' 2026 first base target revealed after short-term Paul Goldschmidt signing

The New York Yankees filled their leadership and gristle void with 37-year-old first baseman Paul Goldschmidt at the end of December, agreeing to a one-year deal with the 2022 NL MVP. Goldschmidt is seeking a bounce back and a soft place to land among friends like Aaron Judge.

The Yankees? They're seeking something sturdy and dependable to hold them over until 2026.

According to Michael Kay's radio show this week, the Yankees coming up short in the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes, losing out to the west coast again, was a punch in the gut for a predictable reason. After missing out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2024 and Sasaki in 2025 for a multitude of different reasons (financial and geographic and Shohei Ohtani), the Yankees intend to heavily pursue Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami next year.

"I know the Yankees would love to have him." Kay emphatically stated. "That’s why they don’t want to sign a long-term deal for a first baseman. Are they going to be able to get him, or is he going to end up on the West Coast?”

Yankees seeking Munetaka Murakami deal for 2026 and beyond to fill first base hole

Now, can they afford Murakami and Kyle Tucker? The jury's still out, even though the Japanese slugger isn't the all-around threat that Tucker is or the type of once-in-a-generation pitcher that Yamamoto was perceived as. He also may have already peaked, drilling a Japanese record-setting 56 home runs in 2022, then notching just 64 total split between the next two seasons. Perfect timing for the Yankees to lavish the burly first baseman with gold coins!

The argument isn't whether the Yankees should pursue him, though; they already appear intent to do so. The fear is that their days of luring Japanese stars based on the power of the pinstripes have already passed them by, for whatever reason. California wasn't invented in 2023, after all. It was always a looming threat, but it doesn't stop Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka from picking the allure of the Bronx.

The Yankees have exactly one year before embarking on the negotiation that just might determine whether Yamamoto and Sasaki were independent flukes, or part of a larger trend of spurning. Murakami's contract should be a financial midpoint between the two, and an excellent test case. No pressure.