Baseball Yankees agree to terms with infielder D.J. LeMahieu by Chris Passarelli January 12, 2019 The New York Yankees sent a very clear message to all who think they’re still in on Manny Machado; No thanks. The Yankees agreed to a two year, $24M deal with infielder D.J. Lemahieu. Lemahieu was previously an All-Star in 2015 and 2017. He is a three time Gold Glove winner, and won the National League batting title in 2016. The Yankees essentially put themselves out of the Manny Machado sweepstakes with this signing, although the movement of Miguel Andujar or Greg Bird could change things quickly. Lemahieu slides right into the super utility role for the Yankees, a big step up from Ronald Torreyes. Lemahieu is a career .296 hitter, capping off in his batting title year at .348. He brings a fantastic glove, a great hitting approach, and a wealth of experience to the Yankees’ clubhouse. He may not be a sexy pickup and he may have cost them $24M, but would you rather have a super utility infielder who can step in at three positions for $24M or Manny Machado for 10 years and nearly $300M? As mentioned before, this isn’t the sexy pickup the fans were looking for, but almost everything that the Yankees lacked last season in the infield Lemahieu can bring. Their poor defense, lack of contact, high strikeout rate and lack of a true utility player were all solved with this signing. Who knows if the Yankees wind up getting Machado anyway and shipping someone off. It’s already a glut in the infield, and this signing proved nothing more than the Yankees are worried about depth, especially with the fragile nature of Troy Tulowitzki. This move deviates from the course Yankee fans are used to. Instead of breaking the bank on the top free agent target, they go with two cheaper options to round out the infield. Post Views: 1,118 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Chris Passarelli Football Editor - Hockey Editor - New York Islanders Lead Writer - New York Lizards Lead Writer - UConn Football Lead Writer Latest posts by Chris Passarelli (see all) NFL Network to Premiere ‘The Top 100 Players of 2020’ on July 26 - July 22, 2020 The ‘Toilet Bowl’ may be coming to Western New York - July 16, 2020 Bigger is Better; SoFi Stadium Completes Largest Videoboard in Sports - July 1, 2020 Smoltz, Vrabel and Brown talk American Century Championship and Everything in Between - June 30, 2020 Related TopicsD.J. LemahieuMiguel AndujarNew York YankeesTroy Tulowitzki 1 Comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 Michael Jordan Could Change the Future of Nascar for the Better by Inesh Chari | posted on March 30, 2021 WNBA Rolling Out Red Carpet For Upcoming 25th Anniversary Season by Jason Cordner | posted on March 16, 2021 More in Baseball You Know I’m Right, Episode 112: New York Jets’ Insider Brian Costello (Audio/Video) On the 112th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) On the 109th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 108: WFAN’s Sweeny Murti (Audio/Video) On the 108th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... You Know I’m Right, Episode 107: New York Post’s Columnist Mike Vaccaro (Audio/Video) On the 107th episode of You Know I’m Right, Nick Durst and Joe Calabrese are joined by... Mets get their regular utility man in Jed Lowrie Yankees set to hit arbitration with Severino