Yankees' Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt talk about trying to fill void left by Juan Soto

TAMPA, Fla. – Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt are two veteran big-leaguers attempting to show that their best seasons aren’t behind them.

The Yankees are counting on it.

As captain Aaron Judge said Tuesday, “You can’t replace a guy like Juan Soto.”

But bounce-back seasons from Bellinger and Goldschmidt would go a long way toward that end.

“We added a lot of new pieces here, starting with Bellinger and Goldschmidt,” Judge said. “They are going to add such a different dynamic to this team. It really lengthens out our whole lineup.”

The 29-year-old lefty-swinging Bellinger is a two-time All-Star and former NL MVP, winning the award as a member of the Dodgers in 2019. But four of Bellinger’s last five seasons since winning the MVP haven’t approached his standards – he hit .266 with a .751 OPS last season – though he was very good with the Cubs in 2023, hitting .307 with 26 homers and an .881 OPS.

“Well, first off, Soto is a generational talent,” Bellinger said Tuesday after the Yankees went through their second full-squad workout. “But, for me and Paul, it’s not necessarily maybe replacing anybody, but coming in and performing to our best capability. And we know what our best capability is, and if we reach those levels, then I think it could be fun.”

The questions surrounding Goldschmidt, slated to be the everyday first baseman, are a little more pronounced, if only for his age. The 37-year-old, a .289 hitter in his career with 362 homers and an .892 OPS, has been one of the best first basemen of the last 20 years. But he is coming off a career-worst season, hitting .245 with a .716 OPS in 2024.

The season’s first half was particularly bad for Goldschmidt, but down the stretch there were indications of the player he had been. Goldschmidt had a .330/.370/.551 slash line in his last 30 games and hit .293 with an .842 OPS over his last 43 games.

“I just didn’t play well for at least half the year, maybe over half the year,” Goldschmidt said Tuesday. “There’s no excuses. All I wanted to do was just continue to keep working and try to help us win every night. The effort was there, the performance was not for a while, and hopefully we’ll be better this year.”

Goldschmidt, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Diamondbacks before spending the last six seasons with the Cardinals, signed a one-year, $12.5 million contract with the Yankees, an organization he’s always admired from afar.

“I mean, it’s a huge honor, for sure,” said Goldschmidt who won an MVP in 2022 with the Cardinals but has yet to win a World Series title in his career. “The expectations and the tradition and the history here is like maybe no other sports franchise in the world. So that’s exciting. You want to play at the highest level, you want to have an opportunity to win a championship, you want to be in the ‘big games.’ I like that. There’s that attitude around here. You can feel it in the clubhouse.”

Bellinger, who won a World Series with the Dodgers in 2020, has tangentially experienced some of what Goldschmidt spoke of as his father, Clay, played for the Yankees from 1999-2001. Cody has memories of his dad’s playing days, though none specifically of spring training.

“I actually have more memories of the minor leagues, being the bat boy, shagging during batting practice,” Bellinger said with a smile. “And then we got to New York, I have memories of like where we live. Not much in Tampa but definitely New York. My parents did a good job of bringing the camcorder around. We were big home video guys, so I got to relook at the memories through the video.”

Notes & quotes: All-Star lefthander Max Fried, signed to an eight-year, $218-million contract in the offseason, spent some time in the Steinbrenner Field bullpen late Tuesday morning talking with two former Yankees lefthanders in town for the week as guest instructors – Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia… Gerrit Cole, throwing his second live batting practice session, again looked good. “His side the other day into this live was just really, really sharp,” Aaron Boone said. “I thought he carried that out there. For this time of year, really sharp.” Cole’s fastball during the session sat at 94-96 mph.