Yankees Sign Infielder DJ LeMahieu, Officially Closing The Door On Manny Machado
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Well that’s not Manny Machado, folks. The Yankees told fans to be patient and wait for the 2018-2019 offseason where they’d get under the luxury tax and be able to spend money. The free agency everyone was hyped about for years! Well, it happened and key free agents Patrick Corbin, Manny Machado, and presumably Bryce Harper all went elsewhere. The embarrassing part of all? They were barely interested in any of them. Now I know Corbin’s contract with Washington was outrageous and I would have never paid him that, but still the Yanks didn’t even extend an offer. Harper? Cashman says we have six outfielders and there’s no room for him, which is utter bullshit. We haven’t even talked to Boras about Bryce. Not once. And Machado? The prized 26 year old gold glove third baseman/shortstop with a big time bat? Yeah they showed minimal interest in a guy who desperately wanted to be here, and for all intents and purposes didn’t extend a contract off. Sure they showed him around the stadium and went to dinner with him, but reports have recently come out that they haven’t even reached out since the new year. That’s fucking insane. In case Hal Steinbrenner needs reminding, the Boston Red Sox have won the AL East three years in a row, just won 108 games, and won the goddamn World Series. The Yankees haven’t been to the World Series since they last won it in 2009, and before that 2003. Two World Series trips in sixteen years… There is no other proper response to that then make a splash in the free agent market, especially when you have the money to spend. It’s lunacy is what it is. You could put this on Cashman and that’s fair, but the guys who make the decisions upstairs, mainly Hal, are the ones to blame. This is a goddamn joke.
Now to the guy we signed today, D.J. LeMahieu (a last name I will never spell correctly). I like DJ. I really do. He’s a three-time gold glove award winner, two time all-star, and a former batting champion. It’s a two year deal worth $24 million. He’s a nice signing and I don’t want to take away from that. With a current infield defense that gives me the scaries, he brings a calming influence (not that Machado wouldn’t have as well). My worries with LeMaheiu? He’s a classic Colorado product. His home and road splits last year? At home: .317/.360/.322 with a .793 OPS. On the road: .229/.277/.422 with a .698 OPS. Yeah, that’s pretty fucking worrisome if I do say so myself. I love the idea of a gold glover infielder who has won a batting title not too long ago, but I hope he can hit in Yankee Stadium.
This also creates a weird infield scenario. I know Tulo was brought in on a league minimum deal, but they have said repeatedly he’s going into spring training and the regular season as the team’s starting shortstop until Didi is back. Well then you have two positions for three players: Gleyber, DJ, Andujar. Defensively that’s a no brainer of DJ at second or third and Gleyber at the other. Does that make Andujar the everyday DH? Now the Yanks can go and cut Tulo at anytime and it makes things much clearer. They could also stash him on the bench for depth. It gives the Yankees lots of options for sure and can allow them to rest players frequently, saving their health. When Didi is back then what happens? By adding Machado things would have become more clear, but with LeMahieu it’s a little cloudy. By August the Yankees could possibly be paying Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu $20 million to sit on the bench. I wonder where that money could have gone…
At the end of the day the New York Yankees have the highest revenue in baseball, but now refuse to spend like it. They just had their teeth kicked in by the Boston Red Sox and didn’t respond with their own knockout punch. They didn’t even attempt a punch as far as I’m concerned. Is the starting rotation improved? Without question, and that was a big issue last year. Is the bullpen very good? Yes, and I have a feeling they do go out and sign Ottavino making it even better. Is a lineup of Judge, Stanton, Gary, Voit, Gleyber, Andujar, Hicks, etc. good enough to be a World Series championship lineup? Of course. But there was an opportunity to make that lineup absolutely ridiculous and Hal Steinbrenner had no interest in doing so. When you tell fans to be patient and wait for that moment we get under the luxury tax, and then you do next to nothing with the extra money to spend? That’s a slap in the face to this entire fanbase. And don’t go convincing yourselves they’re now pivoting to Bryce Harper. That’s not happening. Not when a 10 year $300 million deal is being floated around by the Phillies. Stop that.
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Fuck.
P.S. Dan Clark should be fired off into the sun