A little over a year ago, there were plenty of Yankees fans clamoring for the team to make a huge splash in free agency and sign infielder Manny Machado. The Yankees did give it some consideration, but they ended up taking themselves out of the Machado sweepstakes in January 2019 when they made a far less splashy acquisition with the signing of fellow infielder DJ LeMahieu to a two-year, $24MM guarantee. A bit over a month later, Machado landed with the Padres on a franchise-record pact worth $300MM over 10 years.
If you were to bet on one of those players turning in an MVP-contending campaign last season, it would have been Machado, owner of the vastly superior track record. Shockingly, though, LeMahieu wound up far outdoing Machado. While dividing time among first, second and third for the AL East-winning Yankees, the ex-Cub and Rockie LeMahieu managed a career-high 5.4 fWAR and slashed .327/.375/.518 with 26 home runs (he had never toaled more than 15 in a previous season) across 655 plate appearances. The performance earned LeMahieu a fourth-place finish in AL MVP voting, trailing Mike Trout, Alex Bregman and Marcus Semien. Not bad for someone whom the Yankees could have only expected to be a complementary player when they added him.
Now, unfortunately for New York, it’s uncertain whether the soon-to-be free agent LeMahieu will ever don its uniform again. Even if the coronavirus pandemic doesn’t prevent a season from happening in 2020, LeMahieu could exit via the open market thereafter. As of late February, there hadn’t been momentum toward an extension.
If LeMahieu, slated to be the Yankees’ top second baseman in 2020, does leave as a free agent, how might they react? There are always other free agents, but the rest of the upcoming class at the keystone looks decidedly less promising. Players like Kolten Wong, Jonathan Villar, Cesar Hernandez, Jonathan Schoop and Jurickson Profar are among the best of the bunch, but there aren’t any stars in the group (granted, LeMahieu wasn’t a star before he put on the pinstripes).
Another option for the Yankees could be to move Gleyber Torres back to second base and focus on the top of the shortstop market, which looks a lot more promising. The highly accomplished trio of Semien, old pal Didi Gregorius and Andrelton Simmons are in line to lead the way. Perhaps a better idea would be to try to swing a trade for one of the premier shortstops in the game – the Indians’ Francisco Lindor and the Rockies’ Trevor Story could be available as players heading into their last seasons of control in 2021. The trade market for second basemen doesn’t look as if it will be nearly as enticing, but maybe the Royals will finally relent and show some willingness to move Whit Merrifield.
In the event a LeMahieu re-signing or a major middle infield acquisition doesn’t come together before 2021, would there be any immediate in-house replacements on hand? It’s hard to find an heir apparent worth getting excited about. The Yankees don’t have any prospects who are going to be ready right away. Higher up, the 25-year-old Tyler Wade could open 2020 on the Yankees’ bench, and maybe he’ll do enough to work his way into starting consideration for the ensuing season. To this point, though, he has done little to inspire. Wade offered mediocre offense at the Triple-A level during the past two years and has batted an unsightly .197/.268/.298 with three homers in 241 plate appearances as a Yankee. Fellow 40-man option Thairo Estrada doesn’t look like anything close to a surefire future regular, either.
All said, the Yankees’ middle infield situation could be a compelling one to watch when next offseason rolls around. You would think the Yankees will do all they can to re-up the soon-to-be 32-year-old LeMahieu, but until an extension comes together, there will be plenty of speculation about how they’ll handle second and short in 2021.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dj is a contact hitter with still a great glove. He’s like altuve guys who makes a lot of contact are harder to get out than a guy who hits for power.
rendon is one of the best in that type of players.
contact hitter who had 26 hrs
Look where he has played
He is a great hitter
Tough approach.
The power is because of the stadium. Would be great anywhere in terms of driving the baseball.
Brent Gardner is the toughest hitter in that Yankee lineup.
LeMahieu would be next
something suspicious about those 26 hrs, dude had a career OPS+ of 96 prior to 2019. Then he goes on to slug nearly .100 higher than his career avg w/ only a .350 BABIP.
He did switch teams.
I know Coors Field is well known as a hitters park.
But Yankee Stadium and the AL East in general is great for hitters.
Research his fly ball outs in 2018 compared to 2019
I’ll pass on the homework assignment. bring your own stats to the table.
Those stats are incomplete unless you know where the ball is going.
You know BAIBP don’t include Home Runs as well.
What makes him such a great hitter
Plus I think more teams need to start developing these players
He doesn’t see shifts
Yankee Stadium better suited for his swing. Short porch help. Juiced balls hdlped as well. Did not have them in Coors years. Yankees team philosophy of HR over anything. Lots of factors go into it I think. With that being said. I dont see him repeating 26 HR again in his career.
You saw an increase of 9 Xtra base hits from 2017-2018
Then 12 from 2018-2019 when he switched teams.
There is a lot to look at it.
Reason why Front Office Baseball guys get paid so much and we are amateurs.
But even they get it wrong sometimes.
End of the day why he is so valuable.
Teams don’t shift on him.
You can’t take away his hits and if you try this guy may become a 370 hitter
Anybody wanna take a stab at the contract DJ gets, Yanks or elsewhere?
I think there are way too many unknowns at this point to make an educated guess. I have to imagine this virus-shortened (or non-existent) season is going to have a big impact on free agency.
4 years 64 mil. Comparable to Justin Turner’s deal.
I don’t think the Yanks will break the bank for DJ, as good as he is. Their young stars are going to get paid soon and Cashman isn’t going to want to get stuck in luxury tax hell. I can see the Yanks going 3-yr $54m + a 4th year team option.
Tbh I’m a homer for judge, and I don’t think the Yankees should lay out a deal for him either…. guy can’t stay healthy
Something comparable to Mike Moustakas’s deal from this off-season, maybe bump it up to 4 for 70, but anything in that range. That would end the deal when he’s 36, so he might want a 5 year deal instead if so, then around 5 for 87. That would- most likely- be the last deal of his career unless he wants to keep it going after he’s 37.
17M per year. We need more hitters like DJ and less like Stanton and Sanchez.
He will resign with the Yankees. I also feel they will give him a 4 year deal with an option for the 5th. When players are comfortable where they are usually good things happen and I think not only do the Yankees know this but DJ knows he is tailor made for Yankee stadium and performs the way they like to play. Guess on contract? I honestly see a 4 year 85-90 million deal with the option putting it a little over 100 million.
Donaldson just got that. There is no way DJ does. He might command 4/65ish
If the Yanks want to swing a trade, they could also look at Adam Frazier from Pittsburgh. He swings a nice bat, and has actually evolved into a better than avg 2b. Plus he can cover 3b and at least the 2 corner OF spots with avg ability if needed. A lot to like in that package. Plus he wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg either prospect wise, or salary wise.
i disagree that Estrada cant start. when he’s been healthy in the minors he’s been good
Machado and Schoop aren’t even close to worth their hyperinflated pricetags. DJ is a legit and consistent player. I feel like the weiter hasn’t been paying any attention and is just another Yankee hater.
They could replace him with Didi by shifting Torres back to second.
…Do you mean like the article said?
What article? I just came here for the insightful comments.
The Yankees should never try and deal with Pittsburgh again after they screwed them by originally trading Cole to Houston. I can see Yankees signing DJ 3yrs 45+ Million. They are not letting him go. He’s their new Warrior like ONEIL was for them.
Different regime there now…
and also do you really think that an MLB team should ever pass up on the chance to upgrade their roster based on a grudge, or something of the like? Good thing you aren’t in charge of an MLB team!!
The Pirates were asking for the moon and the Yankees were offering garbage. They both weren’t buying so it’s not like anybody should be bitter.
How was Lemahieu not a star before donning pinstripes? He was a career .298 hitter, with two All Star appearances, three Gold Gloves, and a batting title under his belt. He shouldn’t have had to settle for two years, $24M. That was a steal and will be hard to replace.
because he didn’t hit for power. are you seriously using BA as you primary metric for measuring a star? DJ played at Coors field with a 93 OPS+.
Leave it to Yankees fans to overvalue a player.
I guess Hanser Alberto is also a star.
Ah, have you forgotten that the guy with the highest batting average in each league is called the “batting champion”, and the highest hitter at each position ears a silver slugger award….what the hell are you talking about?
To date, he has 2 of those, and 3 gold gloves to his credit…if that’s not a star than you are from another planet!
Jus another Yankee hater in the crowd…..jealous are you?
And for the record, we’re talking about his Yankee seasons!
He had two above average offensive seasons before leaving Colorado…
Yes, that was 2 more than almost every other major league ballplayer had those 2 years……man you guys would find a problem with Jesus Christ too!
How many, “stars”, do you think there are in the league? I guess this would come down to what your definition of that word is.
Jesus Christ only had two silver sluggers as well, definitely not a star
I was actually wrong, he only had one good offensive season in Colorado. He was a good player, fueled by his elite defence, but he was by no means a star in Colorado. He wasn’t even named to the all star team when he should’ve been and was put on it when he shouldn’t have. That is by no means a way to classify players as stars. Joe Jimenez is one half good season away from being a star since he’d be racking up his second one?
Jesus Is Important And If We Don’t Accept Him As Our Personal Savior, We Need To Make It A Priority To Do So
DJ will be 32 at the end of this year. I dont see the Yankees giving a 4 year deal for him. Maybe a real nice 3 year deal.
DJ might get a longer offer elsewhere.
If he leaves, look at the yankees to go after baez or lindor or even Story to play short and movevtorrez to second.
The Yankees have zero chance getting Lindor without giving up Torres. I would love Lindor he’s the missing piece a legitimate lead off hitter for that line up. Any chance Yankees get Lindor for Andujar, Frazier, Garcia, Schmidt and Florial??
I’d take that if I was Cleveland’s GM.
For potentially one year of Lindor they should definitely take that deal.
Andujar and Frazier are both DHs that Cleveland will not need. I don’t see Andujar being able to play 3B well enough. Frazier is also a head case that even the Yankees would not bring up despite multiple OF injuries. Cleveland will need 2 starting infielders for the 2021 season if Lindor is traded. A least one will come in any trade. Wade and Estrada will not be pieces that will satisfy Cleveland. Also Florial’s prospect value continues to drop as he struggles in the lower minors.
The package listed has value, but does not fit the needs of the Indians which any Lindor better do.
1 top prospect beats 5 second and third level players and prospects.
I think the Yanks will resign DJ he is the winning type player they need to win a championship.
what makes him a winning player exactly? all those times he helped COL win the NL west?
What does that mean?
Can’t they just resign him? Yankees have plenty of money.
Buy Lindor or Semien. Torres doesn’t have the range for SS.
People seem to forget that In addition to Le Mahieu, the contracts of Happ, Gardner, Tanaka, Paxton, and even Elsbury’will be off the books, so the Yankees will be in good shape. Not to mention, I also doubt the free agent market will be as robust as last year due to the losses the owners will take due to Coronavirus and the possible strike after the 2021. My gut feeling is the Yankees will sign either Paxton or Tanaka, and let the others go: why? Getting under the Luxury Tax and saving the money to lock up Judge and Torres.
The Yankees shouldn’t lock up Judge long term always injured. I guess I’m the only Yankees fan who thinks this way.
JDGOAT the Pirates didn’t exactly get the moon from the Astros. I personally think a trade built around Andujar or Frazier is better than what the Astros gave up. All teams ask for the moon from the Yankees then take lesser quality from other teams. For the record I’m the one who’s bitter. LoL
They wanted Andujar. The last report on here stated it was either Frazier or Adams plus minor pieces. As of now, Musgrove is the best player they could’ve received.
Every team asks for the moon from every team they trade with. Every time the Dodgers tried to make a trade last offseason the ask was Lux and/or May. For the Padres it was Gore and/or Patino. They got the same ask whether they were trying to trade for a Superstar or just a pretty good player. It’s not just a Yankees thing.
This is why Pirates are a complete joke by not demanding Whitley or Tucker from the Astros. I think Houston gave up more for Greinke and Cole so much better.
Not that this would really be an ideal option but I feel like Wade is a better hitter than this article is giving him credit for. Sure he’s struggled this far in the majors – but in the minor leagues he’s got a decent track record of being a high average/high-obp guy — and if he can translate that to the majors he could wind up being a solid stop-gap 2B if needed. If he were to hit like .285 with a .350+ OBP and solid baserunning + fielding. That wouldn’t be the end of the world. And given his minor league track record I think he could potentially manage those numbers. The only really major hole in his game is he has virtually no power. Though at Yankee Stadium we’ve thought that about players before and then they’ve gone on to hit 15-20 HRs (Urshela for example)
Yankee stadium isn’t a homerun haven for right handed hitters. Urshela hammered the ball last year and would have hit 20 homers in any ball park
Wade never lived up to his potential. He was supposed to be another Zobrist. They will trade him hopefully and I wish him luck elsewhere.
I like DJ, and he had a career year last season. I don’t want anything over a two-year deal for him to re-up. That being said, I hope they don’t give him a deal past two years, simply because of age factors and the coming availability of Lindor.
I think you replace DJ with a live band.
Most likely Yankees will resign DJ. He is what they still need. They still need to focus on chipping away factor and not everyone swing for the fences or strikeout method. He is Mr Clutch and has an amazing eye at the plate.
The Yanks are much better with LeMahieu. Provides stable contact, clutch power in RISP, sprays to all fields, is not really a strikeout candidate, and fields 3 infield pos deftly.
Remember, even if his falters from a career year, he’ll still:
build up the pitcher’s pitch count.
present stable utility defense.
ACTUALLY GET ON THE FIELD UNINJURE
… and that’s what we need.