Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu is coming off a batting title-winning regular season that could see him earn some AL MVP votes, but the pending free agent said Thursday that he and the team have not yet discussed a contract extension, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets. LeMahieu added that he and the Yankees decided to wait until their season ends on contract talks, and that will be tonight if the team loses Game 4 of the ALDS to the Rays.
Of course, as MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk explained back in March, the Yankees have never been gung-ho on handing out extensions. As such, this is hardly an indicator that they’re ready to move on from LeMahieu, a former Cub and Rockie who has been an incredible find for New York since it signed him to a two-year, $24MM before 2019. Dating back to then, LeMahieu has slashed .336/.386/.536 (146 wRC+) with 36 home runs in 871 plate appearances, all while seeing time at second, third and first.
While LeMahieu’s already 32, his bat and versatility would make him the best free agent available at all infield positions but shortstop, so there’s little doubt he’d cash in on the open market. A deal in the vicinity of the four-year, $92MM pact third baseman Josh Donaldson inked with the Twins last offseason doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility for LeMahieu, whom several other teams could be willing to spend big on if the Yankees don’t re-sign him.
I can see the yearly average with prorated protection but as good as he has been which can’t be denied, not many teams will be spending big money this off season. He deserves to be paid but his timing sucks.
Yankees got great value on that signing, but it is almost guaranteed the next deal won’t be the same great value.
He would be great in philly red or angels red. But do the yankees let him get away? He’s been their best hitter the last two years,
Phillies need pitching in the rotation and bullpen. If they keep neglecting it to spend money on the lineup they will end up being the mid to late 2000s Blue Jays where they wasted a chance to contend.
How about he signs with the padres.
Moves Cron to super utility to back up all three infield positions.
Maybe 2 years or a one year loaded contract.
Please, 2 years…5 years…loaded contract or not….he’s not signing anywhere else than the Yankees….dream on Padres fans!
He likes the Yankees… 4 year $10 mil a year deal. Yankee discount.
You get a reclamation pitcher for 10M a year. Not a 2x batting champ
According to the article, a 4 year deal totaling $92 million is reasonable. You think he will give up $52 million to stay with the Yankees? I think you may be a bit biased.
Yankee discount… 28 Baby!!!
Of course, everyone wants to play for the Yanks for cheap. Gotta love their fans clear eyed valuations.
Twice in the last month or two I agree with Rocky7. Imagine that…
I am not saying Cronenworth is better, but the Padres do not need Lemahiu and would be better taking any money and using it towards a starting pitcher.
He’s been a terrific player for the Evil Empire and deserves every cent he gets, n it will be a lot. The NYY would be negligent if they did not sign him the first chance they get. LeMahieu is a great signing for any team n I hope it’s NY.
If they haven’t extended him by now, they’re not gonna.
The Yankees rarely extend anyone in season . Has only happened twidd in the last 20 years or so.
They have waited til the end of the season to extend guys like
Posada
Mariano
Jeter
Mussina
In the past..so to say ” they’re not gonna ”
Is an ignorant uneducated statement
@robluca21, Correct. Even Cashman and his managers don’t get extensions. As a practice, they negotiate when the contract is done.
Everyone shouldn’t get their panties in a bunch over this….there is no way the Yankees let DJ walk away regardless of years and money….and he’s shown every indication that he wants to play on a team that each and every year challenges for not only the pennant but a World Series title to boot (Yankees) and seemingly has shown an attraction to the Yankee organization and the way they go about the game.
Unless the dodgers make a move, they can move Lux to third. Put DJ at second.
Nope….don’t think DJ will go for that and neither do I think this might be part of any Dodgers forward plan…..t
I think they somehow trade for lindor if they fail to win the world series this year and move on from seager.
Seager’s been better than Lindor this year, not sure why the Dodgers would “move on” from that guy.
Can you please explain to me the logic behind “moving on” from seager?
Also younger and cheaper. But he sees Lindor on tv and espn so assumes hes better
Yea let’s move on from a guy who had the 5th highest exit velo in MLB this year
Lead the NL in doubles in 19 although clearly not healthy. Finally is healthy
Was exponentially better than Lindor
And is mashing in the playoffs.
Oh yeah, he’s 26 and a shortstop
Dj is a yankee for sure next year.. Tanaka prob not. Bauer yes JT Realmuto yes as well
Why stop there? May as well bring in Springer as well and trade for Tatis, Lindor, and Bellinger.
No team is spending like that, not even the Yankees.
Imo JT is going back to philly or the mets
Mets. Phils have yet to even make him an offer.
Bauer and Cole on the same team? I think not.
No chance bauer goes to yankees. Braves or padres are more logical.
Bauer would be like Sonny Gray with the yankees all over again, I don’t think Bauer could handle the spot light. I think padres , angels or braves for bauer. Or he stays with the reds.
Bauer wants to play for a contender. Padres or Braves are real possibilities. Doubtful the Yankees would offer the money he is going to get.
Yanks have Servino coming back next year. German another option, but that is a cloudy future with his past. And more development from young arms like Schmidt and Garcia. All options
Braves seem to be a good choice for him ..
As an Angels fan, hopefully they avoid Bauer. I believe he is a head case. And that is saying a lot because we need pitching bad!
Yankees definitely need a couple starting pitchers.
I think the Twins have a shot at Bauer. They’re GM was in the Indians organization when they brought him in.
and how much are they worth. The team estimated payroll currently is 190M
134M guaranteed plus buyouts
50M in estimated arbitrations
6M for non arb players
I also believe there will be a grievance for JA Happ where his option for 17M might vest. That was the reason they “opened with Garcia” as i believe Happ was one start away from vesting based on the updated option equivalents due to covid
Even assuming no JA Happ the tax threshold was 208M and probably will be less next year due to covid, but we can assume 205 just to make it easy. That leaves 15M before taxes come into play and there are quite a few to replace especially in the rotation.
With that 15M untaxed lets say DJ signs for 20 per for 4 years … .that deal is now 22.5 (15 untaxed and 5 taxed with 2.5 being the taxed amount) as yankees are taxed i believe at 50% over amount.
Bauer is going to want probably 30M a year or close to it. Is bauer worth 45M (30M + 15M tax)? Realmoto 30M?
You will probably need depth for the outfield with Judge and Hicks Injury history along with a couple of starters even for depth with the Bauer signing as you are losing 3 if happ option doesnt go through.
Don’t think postseason starts would be included with vesting option.
If the Yankees bring back all of their arbitration eligible players, that is going to cost them much more than $50M. I believe they have 13 arbitration eligible players Including some like Judge, Sanchez, Urshela who are already paid well and will get raises, especially Judge & Urshela. Then they have young stars like Voit & Torres who should command $5M+ each. I see their arbitration salaries running them at least $70M if not more, unless they are willing to DFA Sanchez (which saves them $6-$7M).
So they will be around $210M before signing any free agents. Not sure if the Yankees want to give up their 2nd & 5th round picks to sign Bauer or Realmuto (qualifying offer cost). After signing DJ, they will be well over the CBT threshold for the 3rd or 4th straight year too.
@dorothy_mantooth
i used the baseball-reference estimates for the numbers i used for the 190M. The arbitration estimate they use are based on the formulas from MLB trade rumors estimates which are not spot on but pretty solid estimates in my opinion. I also thought it was on the lower side and thought maybe covid factored into it.
I see money in his future. And lots of it.
He wanted to play for the Yankees, and both sides indicate they want a reunion. Unless someone comes in with a monster offer (Cohen?), he’ll be back on the Yankees.
Phillies would have money to spend if they do lose JT Realmuto , they could spread the money around. Yankees got a choice to make imo, Do they move on from Tanaka? What is DJ’s market value gonna be? They need more then cole in the rotation, Not sure Bauer would be that guy, He would fold like Sonny Gray
DJ would never….never go to the Phillies regardless of whether they re-sign Realmuto or not…daydreaming about DJ ain’t gonna make that happen….maybe you should concentrate on the Angels and what they might do?
If the Yankees move on from Sanchez, JT may be more attractive to them than DJ.
Sure, bring in DJ to compete with McNeil, Davis and Canó’s unmovable contract…
If DJ comes close to Donaldson money, I don’t see the Yanks resigning him. Instead, they likely sign an everyday SS like Simmons and move Torres back to 2B
I agree. Or trade for Lindor. (Andujar?)
Andujar is a DH and the Indians already have a good DH in Framil Reyes. Andujar can not play a defensive position. Like Sanchez, Andujar has little trade value at the moment.
Would be a great lead off bat for Cubs
It would be a nice fit since 2b is a blackhole for the Cubs, but I don’t see them shelling out a lot $ this offseason.
Agreed, Cubs will not even attempt
Better luck on that in a few years, maybe.
Yanks have to resign him. No question Cashman sees the value he brings and how well he’s handled NY
Bauer needs to go to the Angels or Trout demands a trade to Phillies or Mets closer to home. DJ needs to stay a Yankee 3 years 45-50 Million.
Maybe three years 75 million. It’s going to take a lot more then 3/50 to keep DJ.
Y;all are assuming Cashman will be the one making this decision. If the Yankees flame out again. it will be a single WS in the last 20 seasons. Two decades ONE title. Cashman’s formula might work against the Orioles and Mariners of the world but at some point, the buck has to stop with the architect of these continuous failures. By the Yankees own admission, anything less than a WS title is total failure, Cashman sooner or later has to be held accountable..
They should sign him before tonight’s first pitch
The off-season is right around the corner, so we all have to speculate so we can keep the fires burning. But DJ stays where he is. He likes them, they like him, and they’ve got some pennies to pay him.
I believe Cashman is one of the brighter minds in the game. You don’t hear other people in the industry bad mouthing him. Yankees need to address their biggest issue to date and that IMO is Starting pitching.
If they can manage to walk away from Happ without having to spend any additional funds and they can keep arbitration costs down for guys like Torres coming off bad seasons, I don’t see why they couldn’t afford to keep DJL.
Under the current circumstances, I think the Yanks should sign DJL to a 3 year/$80M extension with a big fat $10M signing bonus to avoid the reduced salaries issue while the pandemic is ongoing, guarantee him at least the pro-rated 40-cents-on-the-dollar for a $23.35M AAV with a vesting/player option in the neighborhood of $20-25M for the 2024 season.
Are you comfortable with a rotation of Cole, Garcia, German, Montgomery, and maybe half way through season Severino? With Loaisaga as your depth?
Even signing DJL at 20M and you have eaten up all your cap space if any left so you would be paying and extra 50% after that.
I think he doesn’t re-sign. The Yankees can outbid anyone, but they probably won’t in this case. They won’t want to go to four years, and certainly won’t want to bid for five, if someones wants to go that far, Infielders in their mid-thirties? Not a great track record,
The Yankees need DJ LeMahieu more than any team in the league. He and maybe Urshela are the only two guys they can count on to get a big hit (single or double) to extend an inning and keep a rally going. The rest of the team, including Torres and even Gardner when he plays, go up there and swing for the fences every at bat. Sure they might run into a single or double from time to time but you don’t see any of them change their approach with 2 outs and a RISP or with 2 strikes on them other than DJ & Gio (maybe Hicks from time to time). The great Yankees teams of old always had 4-5 guys you could depend on to get the big 2 out hit, this team does not have that. They either hit a 3 run HR or strike out. That can work during the regular season but once they see good pitching in the playoffs, it tends to lean more towards the strikeout than the HR. DJL had so many clutch hits for the Yankees these past 2 years and no one will be able to fill that void. They’d be much better served getting rid of Stanton, Sanchez or possibly even Judge than losing DJL. What they really need to do is clone him and bat him 4 times through the lineup ;-). 3 years / $70M with a 4th year option would be a fair deal for both sides.
Pay the man! 4 years at 110 million
Hopefully the marlins can sign him for 2 years. We need someone to solidify the lineup and only for 2 years so he buys time for the future to rise through the minors
NYY let Didi go last year, can’t do the same with DJ. They will give him what he wants
They let him leave because they had DJLM, who they could take over 2B full time while Gleyber took over SS. It would be a bit funny if DJLM left, forcing Gleyber back to second and Didi returning.
Tigers will sign if he is a free agent at 4 years 140mil with perks.
Hey! I thought you guys said batting average doesn’t matter. So why should he get paid the big bucks? Make up your minds.
There’s not a team in MLB that wouldn’t benefit from having him on their team.
True, I agree, but there are all these people on this web site that have blasted me because I am old school and believe any team can benefit from a .300 hitter. They have made claims over and over that batting average doesn’t matter. I’ll take a base hit over a walk any day. OPS says quite a bit, but not everything. I do hope LeMahieu gets a good paycheck, he truly deserves it. Teams need guys like this. Players who hit home runs and walk occasionally, but bat .240, can’t win without the production of the table setters, like LeMahieu. You will take note that when has hit .300 his OPS improves dramatically. Baseball is back to the boring 1950s, but worse, not very many .300 hitters. What would be more valuable to have with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the 9th. A single or a walk? Average doesn’t matter? Right.
Agree with JerryBird. OPS favors Sluggers on OBP guys. I’d take 4 for 4 with 4 singles over 1 for 4 with a homerun, any day of the week. Yet those two players have the same OPS.
Disagree with OBP. Yes a single is better than a walk, generally. But, guys that get lots of walks work opposing pitchers much more. A single is 1 pitch (min), a walk is 4 pitches (min). When you get a team full of OBP guys, pitchers get exhausted. See A’s Money Ball days or Red Sox early 2000’s. How do you quantify (for the hitters) when a starter, who’s have a great game, hits 100 pitches in the 6th inning, and suddenly has to be replaced by a AAAA pitcher. Just saying, theres more to it, then just a single could advance a player an extra base, but a walk can’t.
It’s not that BA doesn’t matter, very few, if any, folks claim that. It’s that you seem to think that OBP doesn’t matter and that a high BA/low OBP is better than a lower BA/higher OBP, which is absurd.
If my memory is correct, he wasn’t that sought after and wasn’t one of the first free agents signed when he latched on with the Yankees, right?
Yes you’re right
Correct, but his value has now skyrocketed. Previously, he was a 2B-only player who teams weren’t sure his bat would play away from Coors. Maybe he was only a .280, 8 HR, slick-fielding 2B’man away from Coors. Had value, but limited to select teams. The Yankees recognized his hard-hit percentage, all-fields approach would play very well. They turned him into a multi-position player who is more a .320, 15/20 HR. Hit the ball harder than anyone in the AL last year. He’s now a player every team would want. The Yankees will have competition for his services, but I suspect he returns to them, but his yearly salary might double.
Thanks for that. I’m sure I’m not alone but I didn’t have much knowledge about him before he took off last season. I guess what you said is a credit to the Yankees scouting and development team.
Well you don’t give cole all that money then get cheap now … all in or not
Come back to Colorado. The Rockies have rotated 2 or 3 guys at 2nd base since he left. D. J. is a career .300+ hitter and an excellent defender. We could use the infield help here in Denver-and also because Arenado is on the way out for pitching.
The Angels suddenly have a hole up the middle. DJL would be a nice addition to Fletcher, Rendon, and Walsh. However, if they’re willing to pay the money DJ would command, why not just extend Simmons or sign LaStella for less and have more money for pitching?
Yanks need to get the payroll over 300 maybe 350 for a chance to reach the WS. Surely Cashman realizes this now.
4 /$75m gets it done for Yankees. I can’t see him going anywhere else for that price.