Brian Cashman needs to keep DJ LeMahieu with Yankees beyond this season by offering an extension
Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu fields a ground ball during spring training in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
TAMPA, Fla.— DJ LeMahieu already has made Brian Cashman look like a genius for bringing him aboard with a two-year, $24 million contract, a deal that remains one of the biggest free-agent bargains in recent memory after his stellar first season in the Bronx.
So if Cashman is smart, he’ll lock up LeMahieu well beyond 2020, and sooner than later, despite the two sides having yet to engage in talks about an extension. LeMahieu is certainly up for it — “I’d love to be here,” he said Wednesday — and what is there left to prove?
On a roster stocked with stars, LeMahieu was the Yankees’ team MVP last season (finishing fourth in the AL overall) during a time period that typically serves as an adjustment process for someone’s freshman year in pinstripes. Not only did LeMahieu hit .327 with 26 homers and 102 RBIs, he divided up his 145 games with significant time at second base, third and first.
While many Bronx newbies can get blinded by the Big Apple spotlight, LeMahieu thrived in the glare. He embraced it, but in his own low-key, soft-spoken way. The uptick in attention doesn’t bother him in the least. Just the opposite.
“Yeah, I just think that comes with being a Yankee,” LeMahieu said. “It’s a bigger stage, bigger deal. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy playing in New York.”
There’s another reason, besides the obvious ones we’ve mentioned, that LeMahieu should be the safest of bets for the Yankees. And if you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering by now where the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal comes into play, only because Houston’s illicit behavior has tinged the entire industry this spring.
Since every player has been asked their opinion on the Astros’ scandal, it was finally LeMahieu’s turn Wednesday. But when presented with the topic, he didn’t go the usual route of either stripping the Astros of the title or saying those players got off too easy. No, LeMahieu — always so focused on life between the lines — immediately brought up the practical implications once the games do start.
“I guess I’m just glad now that I think everything will be on an even playing level,” LeMahieu said. “I think they’re going to do a lot with the technology and get the cameras out, which I’m all for. I just think with the amount of cameras around, what do you think is going to happen? A team is going to run away with it. I know they’re going to take some measures and going forward, we can be on an even playing field.”
Of particular interest to LeMahieu is the potential removal of in-game video access, basically because he’s the rare 21st century player who doesn’t use it —- preferring to brush up on that stuff before and after games. LeMahieu just grew up in the minors as more of an analog guy after the first pitch, and we’d agree it’s worked for him so far.
That’s also how commissioner Rob Manfred would like to see the sport played and he’s pledged to put significant limitations on these in-game video resources. Such a drastic change is going to rankle many players, who could no longer have the ability to study their at-bats between innings, a practice that is commonplace these days. Fortunately for the Yankees, LeMahieu would be immune.
“DJ would be one of those guys — whatever ends up being decided — that will have about zero impact on him,” manager Aaron Boone said, “because he’s not a guy that does a lot of in-game maintenance work.”
Another detail that should make Cashman feel good about the next round of investment in LeMahieu, as if he needed to check any more boxes. It’s comforting to know, in this data-driven age of hi-tech crime, that LeMahieu succeeds with a throwback mentality. A talented grinder with a hyper-refined focus, and a versatility that Boone still intends to use, though LeMahieu is primarily the Yankees’ second baseman this season.
“He loves to play,” Boone said. “His work is really efficient. He doesn’t really overdo anything. He’s real particular with his swings in the course of the day, what he does right before the game to get ready. He’s just got a really solid routine. And there’s just something a little bit different that he brings to the room that I think guys are drawn to.”
LeMahieu nearly rescued that room last October with his tying homer in the ninth-inning of Game 6 of the ALCS, before Jose Altuve’s infamous walk-off blast. In his mind, after all he did a year ago, LeMahieu feels as if he belongs here now.
“I work really hard to have seasons like that and to impact teams like that,” LeMahieu said. “I never knew if it was possible to be that kind of impact [player], but I always strive for it.”
He knows now, as do the Yankees, who need LeMahieu to keep that striving attitude in the Bronx, for well into the future.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
