Even without Juan Soto on the roster, the New York Yankees are carrying a lot of high-priced contracts into the 2025 season.
The team will be paying $40 million to Aaron Judge, $36 million to Gerrit Cole and $32 million Giancarlo Stanton for next season. And they’re also on the hook for $15 million to DJ LeMahieu, despite the fact that he is unlikely to play any significant role for the team.
LeMahieu signed a six-year, $90 million contract with the Yankees in 2021 and, at the time, it seemed well deserved. He’s a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove Award winner and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner who has earned Most Valuable Player Award votes in three different seasons.
But his production at the plate has seen a significant drop off since his .364/.421/.590 campaign in 2020. Amid persistent injuries and offensive struggles, he slashed just .204/.269/.259 for the Yankees in 2024, posting a -1.6 WAR and losing the everyday infielder role that he had played for much of his career.
As the Yankees look to return to the World Series in 2025 after losing starting second baseman Gleyber Torres to the Detroit Tigers, they could certainly use a strong return from LeMahieu. But there is virtually no chance of that happening, according to the New York Post’s Joel Sherman.
Proposing a trade that would bring Minnesota Twins utility man Willi Castro to the Bronx, Sherman noted that Yankees are likely to determine that LeMahieu is no longer capable of playing a defensive role for the team.
“For example, (Castro’s) presence would allow the Yankees to move Jazz Chisholm to second and see if DJ LeMahieu has anything left to offer at first base,” Sherman wrote. “If he does — let’s say that is perhaps a 10 percent chance — then Castro and Oswaldo Cabrera give Aaron Boone switch-hitting chess pieces with some speed to deploy in a variety of ways. If LeMahieu is no longer a starting player, Castro can step in at third or move to second with Chisholm manning third — depending on how the Yaneks view who is best where.”
It’s possible that LeMahieu will earn a designated hitter role even if he’s ruled out as a viable defensive option, or perhaps the Yankees will utilize him as a backup first baseman behind Paul Goldschmidt.
But given the promise he showed ahead of his long-term contract with the Yankees, it has to be disappointing that they can no longer count on him as an everyday option at the hot corner.
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