Yankees release DJ LeMahieu after infielder loses starting second base job
DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees looks on after a game against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
One day after the Yankees decided that veteran infielder DJ LeMahieu would no longer be an everyday player, they decided to let him go completely.
The Yankees designated LeMahieu for assignment on Wednesday before they faced the Mariners at the Stadium. On Thursday, he was released from the roster. He has been with the Yankees since 2019 and during that time twice finished in the top five in voting for the AL MVP and won the 2020 AL batting title. In recent years there have been injuries and his level of performance has declined.
The ultimate decision to let the 37-year-old LeMahieu go had to do with the versatility of the roster once it was decided that Jazz Chisholm Jr. would go forward as the starting second baseman instead of LeMahieu. Since he joined the Yankees LeMahieu has played a lot of third base, but he’d begun to find the position too physically taxing.
“He had communicated all the way back from the wintertime that third base had become now an issue for him physically and that second (base) and first (base) would be the more likely areas for him,” general manager Brian Cashman said.
Boone said that as things currently stand, he envisions Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas – called up to replace LeMahieu on the roster – sharing responsibilities at third base. Cashman said that while pitching remains his top priority on the trade market as the MLB deadline approaches at the end of the month, an infielder is now something the team seeks.
“I'm definitely going to be looking for upgrades if I can – that doesn’t guarantee anything,” he said.
LeMahieu suffered a calf injury in spring training and missed the first 41 games of the season. When he returned the Yankees tried to accommodate him with “a lane” to be the regular second baseman, as Cashman put it.
Chisholm had been amenable to playing third base but said on Sunday that he he'd been playing through shoulder discomfort since making a long throw from third to first in a game about three weeks ago. Two days later he was back at second base, his natural position.
“Tough decisions – in the end it ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what's best,” Cashman said. “You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves to deal with, on a day-in and day-out basis, the game.”
He illustrated this by pointing out that if manager Aaron Boone wanted to pinch-hit for starting third baseman Peraza against the Mariners, it would mean catcher J.C. Escarra would have to go into the field at third base “and that’s just not something I could leave comfortably.”
Boone said that the move was not a result of LeMahieu asking to be released.
LeMahieu re-signed with the Yankees on a six-year, $90 million contract after winning the 2020 batting title and finishing third in the AL MVP voting. The club will be responsible for the remaining $21.7 million left on the deal that runs through the 2026 season.
LeMahieu played in just 67 games last season due to foot and hip injuries and batted .204. Cashman said he believed he’d had two cortisone injections for the hip since the 2024 injury and suspected that might be part of his problem “teeing up” to play third base.
This season in 45 games, he was batting .266 with two home runs and 12 RBIs.
LeMahieu was conspicuously absent from his locker in the clubhouse during pre-game media access.
Asked how LeMahieu handled the decision, Cashman replied, “Like a pro.”
“He's a great player . . . he's done great things here,” Cashman said. “Obviously, the last few years have been not what he or we had hoped for. But that's also part of the game. Listen, injuries can change the dynamic and the equation altogether and so all he can do is keep doing the best he possibly can.”
“It’s been a tough couple days with some hard conversations and ultimately coming to this conclusion,” Boone said.
He called him “a great player who’s done a lot of great things for this organization.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
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