New York Yankees Majorly Upgraded Their Worst Position From Last Year

The New York Yankees have made a handful of changes to their lineup. One of their most impactful was upgrading their worst position from a year ago.

MLB data account BrooksGate recently released a graph showing each team's weakest offensive position from last season in terms of fWAR and how they planned to address it heading into the 2025 campaign.

The Yankees used a combination of Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Ben Rice at first base. That group combined for -0.9 fWAR, which ranked No. 27 in MLB.

This offseason, New York made a sizable move in signing future Hall of Famer Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year deal. Though he is in the twilight of his career, it would be hard for him to be worse than what they had in 2024.

The previous Yankees group mustered up just a .216/.284/.335 slash line with 16 home runs from the first base spot in the lineup. The platoon they deployed did not perform to an acceptable level.

Rizzo played the most games, but outside of the shortened 2020 season, it was still his fewest appearances since 2012 before he really found his footing in the Majors.

He posted an individual slash line of .228/.301/.335. His play has been on the decline for the past two years really, but this was a sharp descent in terms of production. The 35-year-old remains a free agent to this day.

LeMahieu is another veteran who has clearly been regressing for some time, but this past year was horrid. His .204/.268/.259 line is unacceptable and by far the worst of his career.

Unlike Rizzo, though, he is still on the team because of the six-year, $90 million extension he signed back in 2021 which has become somewhat of a nightmare deal for the team.

Rice was maybe the biggest disappointment, though, given that there was some excitement around his rookie campaign.

The 25-year-old played both catcher and first base, but mainly stuck to first. His first crack at MLB pitching was unsuccessful, as he slashed just .171/.264/.349.

He has dominated minor league pitching for the past few seasons, which is why people were so excited about him in the first place. Perhaps he can turn it around, but he won't start in the MLB lineup.

Goldschmidt will instead take the starting reps and should provide a steadier hand. Even with last year being one of the worst campaigns of his career, it was still miles better than any of the previously mentioned players.

The now 37-year-old posted a .245/.302/.414 slash line with 22 home runs. His biggest struggle compared to years past was with drawing walks. It used to be a strength of his, but he didn't seem to be seeing the ball as well as he used to.

Even him staying around that level of production would be a win for New York.

Any sort of bounce back would be an added bonus.

Recommended Articles