Another day another second baseman off the board as DJ LeMahieu signs a two-year contract with the New York Yankees. The deal is for $24MM total over the two years and is evenly split as LeMahieu will earn $12MM in each year of the contract.
The two time All-Star LeMahieu was drafted in the second round of the 2009 draft by the Chicago Cubs. He only appeared in 37 games with the Cubs before being traded to the Colorado Rockies after the 2011 season. In 2016 LeMahieu went on to surprise most when he won the NL batting title after he led the entire Major Leagues with a .348 batting average. Over the course of his eight year big league career LeMahieu has maintained a .298 batting average and has also provided impressive defense given he is taller then the average second baseman while standing at 6’4. The past two season LeMahieu has led all NL second baseman in fielding percentage with a .989 in 2017 and .993 in 2018 while only committing a total of 12 errors in that time.
As for where LeMahieu fits in with the Yankees is anyone’s guess at this point. He has played almost exclusively at second over his career but has played 41 games at third and 4 games a piece at both first base and shortstop. The Yankees now have a surplus of infield options at the moment just like the other New York team the Mets do. With Didi Gregorius out for the first portion of the season the Yankees signed veteran shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to handle the position if his health allows. They also have 2018 AL Rookie of the year runner ups Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres at third base and second base respectively. At first base they have left handed hitters in rookie Luke Voit as well as Greg Bird who has dealt with health issue himself. LeMahieu looks to provide depth for the Yankees in the event that Tulowitzki can not take the field and Torres has to slide over to short until Gregorius is healthy as well as potentially suiting up at third base and providing a right handed option at first base. This would appear to take the Yankees out of the running for the Manny Machado sweepstakes but after this surprise move you never know.
MLB News & Notes 