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The New York Yankees are keeping their first base combination alive.
Paul Goldschmidt has signed to return to the Yanks, meaning he joins Ben Rice for the 2026 MLB season.
Goldy played for the Yankees in 2025 for the first time, and he and Rice put together a solid campaign together.
The key this time around, though, is that Rice will be the unquestioned starter, not Goldschmidt.
"This should not prevent Ben Rice from getting the majority of ABs this season," The Athletic's Chris Kirschner wrote on X on Friday.
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The 26-year old Rice broke out in a big way in 2025.
He combines well with Goldy, because Rice bats lefty and Goldschmidt is a right-handed bat who mashes against southpaws.
Rice is the future for the Yanks at first base, and he'll get full-time action this season to prove it.
In 2025, Rice had 467 at bats, batted .255 and slugged 26 home runs.
Rice drove in 65 runs and scored 74 times. He had an awesome OPS of .836.
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Goldschmidt was much better against lefties than righties in 2025, so it'll make sense for them to platoon a decent amount of the time, but the Yankees might trust Rice enough to leave him out there even against some left-handers.
In summary: This signing is nothing to worry about for Rice. It's just a solid addition at the back end of the Yankees' roster.
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