In the future after Aaron Boone declared DJ LeMahieu “a bat off the bench” and bodily challenged by the third base place, the Yankees designated the two-time batting champ for task.
The staff introduced the choice on Wednesday, selling Jorbit Vivas to take LeMahieu’s roster spot. The Yankees nonetheless owe LeMahieu, 36, about $22 million between this season and subsequent until one other staff surprisingly claims him on waivers.
“I’m sure on some levels, he’s not happy about certain things” Boone mentioned, “and hopefully that’s not something that becomes a long-term situation.”
Boone mentioned that the selection to maneuver on from LeMahieu adopted “a tough couple days” of “hard conversations,” however that it was “the right thing to do at this time.” Brian Cashman added that he met with LeMahieu on Tuesday and Wednesday earlier than making a call.
“In the end, it ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what’s best,” the overall supervisor mentioned. “You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves to deal with on a day in and day out basis in-game.”
The Yankees might have parted with LeMahieu over the offseason, however Cashman mentioned there was “no pressure point” to take action and that the group was “hopeful” that the participant might rebound after the worst season of his profession.
LeMahieu hit .204 with a .527 OPS in between a damaged foot and a hip damage final season, and he has a .665 OPS since 2023. He hit .266/.338/.336 with two homers and 12 RBI in 45 video games this season.
The three-time All-Star’s tenure in New York involves an finish after slashing .278/.351/.412 in seven seasons with the Yankees. LeMahieu appeared in a single All-Star recreation with the staff and received the Silver Slugger award in 2019 and 2020. He additionally received a Gold Glove award in 2022.
Cashman mentioned that Chisholm didn’t request his transfer again to second, although he did publicly confer with himself as a second baseman.
Boone mentioned that LeMahieu was keen to start out working at third to make the place an possibility, but it surely’s change into a “demanding spot.” Cashman didn’t have a selected reply as to why, however he famous LeMahieu has handled hip points courting again to final season and suffered his calf damage whereas enjoying third in his first spring coaching recreation this yr.
LeMahieu has additionally been hindered by a number of foot accidents.
“I know he strongly felt that the best way for him moving forward was to try to solely stay on the right side of the infield,” Cashman mentioned.
Cashman mentioned LeMahieu started speaking that third can be tough for him to play way back to the winter. Nonetheless, the Yankees went into spring coaching with the veteran, Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza as their major choices on the scorching nook. All got here with apparent flaws and issues.
“At some point, you may run out of how much money you’re spending, and some big log may be too much to add to the fire if it’s a free agent import or if it’s a trade import,” Cashman mentioned when requested if he regretted not bringing in one other third baseman. “It might be robbing Peter to pay Paul. You would love to have an established situation there that you plug and play and you’re not worried about it anymore. But that’s not where we’re at. Did we look in the winter? Of course we looked in the winter.”
Now the Yankees are left with the slick fielding however offensively challenged Peraza and Vivas, a rookie with extra expertise at second, as their major third base choices. J.C. Escarra, a catcher, and up to date minor league signings Nicky Lopez and Jeimer Candelario are depth choices.
Cashman talked up Peraza’s protection on Wednesday, however when requested if he’s comfy along with his present third base decisions, he replied, “As the general manager of the New York Yankees, I was taught by George Steinbrenner you’re just never gonna be comfortable.”
Cashman added that he’ll “definitely” search for upgrades at third forward of the July 31 commerce deadline, however the Yankees might additionally use assist in their rotation and bullpen.
“That’s a long list, and I’m not sure if this will be a deep deadline or not, so I don’t know how active we can be, but we will try to be active,” Cashman mentioned. “We’re going to go to town. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to improve ourselves and try to match up.”
Requested about monetary flexibility forward of the deadline, Cashman mentioned that the Steinbrenner household is all the time keen to pay attention relating to bettering the staff. That’s an ordinary reply from the GM, although Yankees possession is consuming a big chunk of cash with LeMahieu gone.
A Rockie over his first seven huge league seasons, LeMahieu joined the Yankees as a free agent previous to the 2019 season. He signed a second cope with the staff forward of the 2021 season, re-upping for six years and $90 million. The Yankees might have re-signed LeMahieu to a shorter deal, however they opted for an extended contract and a smaller common annual wage in an effort to keep away from luxurious tax “consequences,” as Cashman put it.
Cashman mentioned he didn’t remorse that construction “because that’s just the nature of the beast.”
“Sometimes these things work out in your favor,” he continued. “Sometimes they don’t.”
Whereas LeMahieu has not supplied the Yankees a lot on the sphere during the last two years, Boone and Cashman appreciated his presence all through his tenure with the franchise.
Boone didn’t get to speak to his staff about shifting on from LeMahieu previous to the announcement, however he referred to as him “as widely respected a player as we’ve had.”
“He’s earned that with just his professionalism, his toughness, his play on the field, just kind of the quiet way he goes about things,” Boone mentioned. “There’s a lot of guys that have an immense amount of respect for DJ.”
LeMahieu is the fourth well-paid participant the Yankees have positioned on waivers since 2023. He joins Aaron Hicks, Josh Donaldson and Harrison Bader.
Initially Revealed: July 9, 2025 at 4:28 PM EDT
