Moving on from DJ LeMahieu

Yankees fans should go through their closets and pick out a funeral outfit just in case DJ LeMahieu moves on and gets paid by another team other than the Bombers. As nightmarish as that might be for Yankee fans, it is a fantasy that could become a reality sooner rather than later.

Assuming the Yankees won’t budge on their offer for LeMahieu and he leaves breaking the hearts of most of the fanbase (like Cano in 2013) the question becomes how do the Yankees field a contending team for 2021? According to Spotrac, the Bombers would have $47.2M to work with under the $210M luxury tax. That $210M number looks like the depths of hell for the Yankees because of the pandemic. Acting out of financial flexibility instead of need to field a championship roster, the fans won’t care, fans only care about the success on the field. After getting Gerrit Cole last December, the feeling around the Bronx was that the Evil Empire was back, with the Death Star “fully operational.” Instead, the Death Star is still in the building stage, with the Evil Empire holding back the full power of their operation. As Yankee fans wake up today and read the papers, scroll through their Twitter timelines, and listen to the radio, a wave of confusion will cast over them. The bleacher creators are not accustomed to pinching pennies and losing out on prized free agents—or resting on their laurels after falling short the season prior. What Cashman, Hal Steinbrenner, and the rest of the Yankee brass are showing to the fans in this offseason is not Yankee like.

Let’s take a crack at spending $47.2M of Hal Steinbrenner’s money in an attempt to bring a parade back to the cannon of heroes.

The first move that I would make after the news of LeMahieu signing somewhere else, I would pivot to Jurickson Profar and sign him to a similar contract to the one Cashman handed LeMahieu in 2018, a two-year $20M contract, leaving $37.2M left to spend. Why I would pivot to Profar is extremely similar to why the Yankees signed LeMahieu, upside. Profar was once a top prospect in this game with the Rangers, now a journeyman utility, the Bombers can plug Profar into different holes that are sinking the Yankees yacht. Profar can replace LeMahieu at second, play first if Voit isn’t fully healthy for the start of the season, play third (if need be), while he can also play all of the outfield positions as a fourth outfielder (or fifth), and adds another switch hitter to balance out the lineup. The upside for Profar in the Bronx, doesn’t jump off the page, or necessarily move the needle for Yanks fans (but neither did the DJ signing in 2018), but it could be an inexpensive way to add value.

Next, I would bolster the starting rotation. To me, the number one need for the Yanks this offseason is to get a Robin for Gerrit Cole’s Batman. That doesn’t mean pillaging for Bauer off the free agent market. I would sign a duo to be the backup that the Bombers need after Cole takes the mound. I would resign James Paxton to the same number to the contract he had in 2020, at $12.5M for a two-year deal with an opt out after 2021, next I would sign Jake Odorizzi to the same kind of deal that I would give Paxton (an opt out after 2021) but at $10.5M with a $300K bonus if Odorizzi hits 160 innings in 2021. Odorizzi threw 159 innings in 2019 and had a 129 ERA+, his highest ERA+ of his career, and like many pitchers had an odd 2020 season in a contract year. Odorizzi before 2020 had a five-year period where he was the definition of stable, which is what the Yankees need throughout their rotation. Odorizzi would be a great number three pitcher until Severino comes back, and an overqualified fourth starter as the dog days of the 2021 season wear on (fingers crossed of course). It is risky giving any money to one guy coming off an injury plagued season, much less two guys, but 2020 was odd for every pitcher so I don’t pay much attention to any stats when it comes to all the guys who logged innings in last season. These signings like the Profar addition, will not light up the Yankee Stadium marque like a Gerrit Cole, but it will add the glue that needs to be in place when you build the foundation of a World Series roster. These signings would leave me with $15.9M left to work with

Lastly, I would save the biggest signing for last. I would go to Liam Hendriks and hand him a three-year $24M ($8M this year) to add another arm in the back end of the pen to make up for the loss of Tommy Kanhle. Tampa Bay showed the Bombers firsthand you can never have enough pitching, or power arms in the bullpen to turn to when you need another horse. Hendriks has been the best reliever in baseball over the past two seasons. Hendriks had the best K% (percentage of batters faced that stroke out when facing Hendriks) at 40.7, Hendriks finished ninth in MVP voting last season, and for conventional fans had a 1.78 ERA in 2020 (and 1.80 in 2019), in a word: dominate. Hendriks ERA+ the past two seasons averages out to 236 which is mind-blowingly incredible. For reference, Mariano Rivera’s career ERA+ is 205. YEAH, that good!

Is all this a simple fix that will work? I don’t know, but I think it’s the best option given the Yankees financial concerns.

As someone who loves LeMahieu and believe that he is the true key to unlocking the potential of a high-powered offense, while also being the MVP of baseball the last two seasons, losing him will be the worst free agent loss of my fandom for any team. It will hurt more because, the Yankee brass without deliberately coming out and saying it to our faces are pivoting to Plan-B.