The New York Yankees are looking to get out of their recent slide and have made a decision that is not usual for the team. It is being reported that infielder DJ LeMahieu has been designated for assignment by the team. There are a lot of interesting wrinkles that this leaves, so let’s take a deeper dive into everything we know as information continues to come out about the situation.
The New York Yankees have announced they are releasing infielder DJ LeMahieu on Wednesday ahead of their game against the Seattle Mariners. Before the game, manager Aaron Boone said that LeMahieu did not ask to be DFA’d and was willing to continue to be a player off the bench. This seemed inevitable as the team moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base and Boone stated that LeMahieu is not an option to be at third base.
LeMahieu was under contract through the 2026 season at $15 million per season and is now free to sign with any team for the league minimum. He had control of his future as he had 10-and-5 rights, which means he had accrued at least 10 seasons of MLB service and at least the last five seasons with the current team and allows him to have a blanket no-trade clause, which he has the ability to waive if he wanted to. However, now as a free agent, the New York Yankees will eat an estimated $22 million and look for an infielder to replace him.
The New York Yankees announced infielder Jorby Vivas will be replacing him on the 26-man roster. LeMahieu had 128 at-bats this season and posted a .674 OPS with a pair of home runs, 12 RBI, and 13 runs scored. It will be interesting to see if the upcoming 37-year-old will look to continue playing this season or if he is going to be waiting until the 2026 season. LeMahieu spent seven seasons with the Yankees (718 games) and posted a 110 OPS+ in that stretch with two Silver Sluggers, a batting title, a Gold Glove, and an All-Star appearance.
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