Yankees third baseman DJ LeMahieu opened the season on the injured list with what the team termed a foot contusion after he fouled a ball into himself late in camp. The team said yesterday he’d been slated for a second MRI because the swelling had taken so long to go down, and it appears this new round of imaging revealed a more notable injury. Manager Aaron Boone told the Yankees beat today that the new round of imaging revealed a non-displaced fracture (X link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). He’ll be reevaluated in two weeks but is now clearly facing a lengthier absence than originally anticipated.
The Yankees made a late-spring trade to acquire utilityman Jon Berti from the Marlins, sending catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Rays and outfield prospect John Cruz to the Marlins in a three-team swap. Berti’s presence on the roster will be all the more important now. The Yankees didn’t provide a timeline beyond that two-week reevaluation, but at the very least LeMahieu will be sidelined into late April — although an absence extending beyond that seems likely.
LeMahieu, 35, is in the fourth season of a six-year, $90MM contract. He came to spring training hoping to rebound from a down year at the plate, by his standards (.243/.327/.390, 101 wRC+), but he struggled in 29 spring plate appearances and will now face an prolonged absence to begin the year.
With LeMahieu and prospect Oswald Peraza (shoulder strain) both on the injured list for what’s likely to be a notable period, the Yankees will use Berti and fellow utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera at the hot corner early in the season. Cabrera has started each of the team’s first two games and gotten out to a hot start, going 6-for-9 with a home run and a double.
Rebuild after Soto walks
This may be the right approach. At the very least, Yankees need to get out of the business of trading younger talent for stop-gaps or name players who might be past their time. Watch Cole. If he comes back healthy (very much an if) and opts out, they Yankees can void the opt-out by adding a year to his contract. If Soto walks, the team has a year like last year, they might let Cole, as good as he is, walk as well. a lot of money/dead and not is coming off the books in next few years. They might chance it
Their issue is that post Cole they can’t sign anyone. They can only trade. And don’t say AJ. He’s worth about half what they’re paying him. And if he keeps batting .120-.160 he’ll be worked 10% of what they’re paying him. Virtually every player the Yankees have tried to sign form a hand full of guys over the years up to Machado & including now Snell and Monty and a few others this season that signed elsewhere. Seems the fact is most players do not want to play for the NYY. And until the NYY sign a free agent guys like Soto to 3-5 year deals minimum the NYY will continue to have to make trades to acquire top tier talent.
This is some of the most ridiculous stuff I’ve ever seen on here. The Yankees could have signed both Snell and Montgomery but just could not justify the cost of 2X the market rate with the luxury tax. Machado’s contract is already looking bad, so that’s a bullet dodged. Judge batting .120-.160???? In what universe do you inhabit?
@Poisoned Nearly all of 1.78iq’s posts are utterly asinine. I for awhile figured he was a troll. But it seems as though he actually means the absurd false notions he regularly utters.
That’s funny Tigers, I was calling him 17.8iq elsewhere. I’m so embarrassed for giving extra credit!
He is a troll.
I don’t think people are averse to signing in NY, I think the team is not making top-dollar offers. Hal has allowed the tax to dictate the moves he makes. I don’t love it but I don’t own the team so his call in the end. Next year there will be some relief at least. Donaldson’s 8 million leaves and Torres, Verdugo, and Kahnle are all probably allowed to walk. They could even decline Rizzo’s option…
AJ is hitting around .100 3 games in right now.& hit .160 in the spring.
And right now Stroman is realizing why he’s the only pitcher to sign with the NYY he could be pitching a shutout but errors made it 3-1. To night NYY is playing their 2023 ball. Can’t field. Can’t score. Pitching great. It’s sad you all have average iQ. So everything I wrote is accurate. Live everything I wrote lol. Many like you are just too stupid or are NYY fans and can’t grasp it.
@1.78iq Assuming HOU holds lead Yankees will still have a 2-1 record this season. They also scored 12 combined runs in the first 2 games. So no everything you wrote is not accurate which is a common theme with you.
Tonight is one word genius….
Ok and the Yankees won the first 2 games lol. Bad fielding cost them runs the 3rd game. Last time the Astros started 0-2 was when Altuve was a rookie. And they faced Cortez and Rodon lmao
Oh and the Yankees won game 3 lol. Not looking good for the trashcan stros
@1.78iq Hey Clevon, that comment of yours sure did not age well. I ll give you one thing Clevon, you are consitent…
If you’re judging Judge off of a 3-game sample for batting average, then you’re the stupid one. But we already knew that.
Totally agree.. half of this is nonsense. Because teams choose to make bad decisions doesn’t mean the yankees will follow. Granted they don’t always make the right moves they always have a plan. Trading for Brubaker is a smart move I’d also like to see them sign clevinger to a low rest of the season contract as insurance.. was hoping for lorenzen but that didn’t happen
This guy thinks Judge is a .120 hitter????
The issue with even bringing up “Trading Judge” as a possibility is that it just won’t happen.
The only way the Yankees would even consider it is if they’re getting a boatload of talent back, but Judge won’t bring that. At least not without paying down his contract substantially. He’s a great player, but his contract isn’t terribly valuable.
The Yankees are paying, perhaps $20mil/yr, to send their captain to another team for prospects.
Judge’s value is not just derived on the field. Judge is a very marketable player, these mega contracts are not just about on field production. These players are faces of a brand and boost revenue.
The decision on Cole is needed before players can declare Free Agency.
If Cole’s injury is serious, then he wont opt out.
There is no connection between Cole’s opt out and Soto’s Free Agency.
Soto is an entirely different ballgame to Boras’s “”Big 4″” this offseason.
He is a bonafide Star, aged 25 at Free Agency.
Look at what Yamamoto got even before he pitched 1 pitch in the bigs as a 25 year old.
Boras is gonna play Soto out until late January at the earliest, unless what I think will happen will happen, which is Steve Cohen will kidnap Boras, give him a blank check, and Soto will be a Met.
Try March of 2025, not January which is why Yankees wont wait for him and pivot elsewhere. They will make him a great offer during their 10 day window after World Series take it or leave it and move on if he rejects.
@Anthony Players Like Soto don’t go until March before signing. The offers will come in quick on him as the teams willing to spend on a talent such as him don’t start their pffseason til he’s off the board.
That why I find the hate for Boras and players delaying as odd. The teams do it in the front end of free agency and it’s acceptable. Nobody is crying foul that Snell was an after thought til Ohtani came off the board.
No reason for people to be upset. He made his decision on Dec 11. Other than impatient fans, there is no problem for teams and other players with that timing.
If Cole is stupid enough to opt out I promise you Yankees let him walk and will revert to Corbin Burnes and use that $36 million to try to lure Burnes.
This injury will scare teams away from a long term deal.
It came at the worst time for Gerrit.
I think he wont opt out.
Having said that, I think that even if he does opt out, the Yankees will opt to tack on the extra year.
Cole is too good.
The Yankees looked a lot better than the Astros. Might be a bad year for Yankees haters.
2 Games in!?!??!
Will never happen nor should it.
I do believe D. J. LeMahieu is the most brittle baseball player in Major League Baseball.
Has that guy ever played a full season without injuries????
From 2014-2021he played every season except 1 without any injuries. So well over half his career he’s played without injury.
Mitch Hainger steps in for a chat about those accusations
Adalberto Mondesi would like a word also.
I know that you keep posting this troll, but the Yankees cannot enter any sort of “rebuild” Judge, Stanton, Cole, DJ, Rodon, etc,,, all have large “untradeable” contracts. Trying to win with those contacts is their only option, no matter how many times you post rebuild. I think you are a troll and you know this to be true, but this comment is for the six people who liked your “rebuild” and throw in a Soto walking for good measure. He looks pretty comfortable with the Yankees, and they will make every effort to resign him because winning now is the only choice they have.
Everyone “This parrot is dead.”
NY Yankees “No he isn’t. He’s resting.”
Hal: Petey? You sold my dead bird to a blind kid? Brian! Petey didn’t even have a head!
Cash: Hal, I took care of it…
Blind kid: Pretty bird… pretty bird. (continues petting)
Beautiful pinstripes, though, eh?
And the injuries continue to pile up…..
Same guy, same foot issues as last year. Thinking a soon to be 36 year old is going to miraculously play every day after missing 26 and 37 games the last two seasons was wishful thinking on Cashman’s part.
That’s why the Berti trade was key. I don’t think the master plan involved a return to MVP form from DJ. I think stop 3rd base from becoming a black hole was the goal and so far mission accomplished.
Not a Yankee fan, but that berti pick up was a nice move.
@Poisoned Fouling a ball off one’s foot should have been forseeable??? If foreseeing the future is so easy why are you wasting time commenting on here and not traveling the country playing various lottos???
LeMahieu has had various foot injuries (toe, Lifranc, etc.) over the past two seasons, this is now the third season in a row with a foot ailment resulting in a DL stint.
The how he got this one is not as important as simple common sense, 35-36 year old players don’t miraculously heal (or heel) from recurring injuries, at least in a post-steroid era..
So fouling a ball off his foot has been recurring? You noted various injuries above where is there a recurring injury??
He’s got bad feet, aka the base of the legs, a crucial component in being a baseball player why is that hard to understand?
Some players are prone to shoulder injuries, LeMahieu is prone to foot injuries.
To use your logic, other players foul balls off their foot every day without actually fracturing it and .landing on the DL before the season even starts.
Are you going to name the one injury that is a recurring injury in his foot?? That is a specific injury that can be linked directly to another injury.
Toe, lifranc, foul ball, etc… none of those are a recurring injury.
That’s hilarious though you’d deem one as having bad feet from fouling a ball off their foot.
The other shoe has dropped.
Ouch!
He’s the heart and sole of the team….
Why do the Yankees rely on bad doctors
So… he’s done for the year, right? I mean, realistically he won’t be back for like 8 weeks, possibly 12 weeks… so he’s gonna be out until at least late June and possibly late July.
So if he is back in June that means he is done for the year??????? lol
….yes.
I mean, I was typing stream of conscious so yeah those two things I wrote contradicted each other, but in full transparency what I mean is he’s probably out for half the year and he may not be at full capacity the rest of te season anyway.
Thats great cause I honestly believe Berti is a much better player at this point of his career. A platoon of Berti and Cabrera is what this team needs.
8 weeks would be end of May. 12 would be end of June.
oswaldomania?
oswaldinsanity?
oswaldo acted alone!
Yeah I think the Cole injury will end up being worse than initially expected too.
Let’s hope not! Injuries stink worse than week old pheasant hanging outside your pagoda.
Nice Shogun reference there lol
Strange irony that post Soto trade the Yanks and Pads may end up with the same record and around third or fourth in their respective divisions.
Trade may end up a wash.
And both teams were 82-80 last year.
Exactly. Pads and Yanks are really similar roster construction wise. Pads have the edge rotation wise due to Coles injury. Both have solid rotations. Yanks have the edge on offense with the addition of Soto but maybe marginally better in that department.
Both are good teams in ridiculous divisions.
Aye! Pads truly are a fourth place team.
Webb. Darvish
Snell > Musgrove
Hicks. Cease
Should have signed Snell.
Giants have Ray and Cobb coming back as well.
Underfund a team an this what you get.
Yanks seem to downplay all of their injuries and later more come out
Downplay their injuries, overhype their prospects, and they’ve said they have talked to or been in on EVERY FA out there in this off-season signing NO1. Sad days to be yanks fan. How in the world does Cashman keep his job ?
Yes I am sure Yankees fans are devastated after watching their team play after two games. Which they both won.
George would have fired him 5 times by now.
He keeps it because the owner knows the Yanks cannot do a 5 year rebuild and Cashman has done a credible job keeping them in it every year while still producing a few good rookies.
It was embarrassing watching the game when the Cole news was everywhere and all the broadcasters are like “nothing confirmed yet” completely ignoring it. Like cmon.
GWS DJ
Became completely useless after signing big extension
Pretty much lol
The Yankees are 2-0, beat the Astros twice on their field and Carbera has been amazing.
MLBRumors Chat: The season is over and the Yankees are dead!!!!!!!
This is so frustrating. How can the Yankees get injuries wrong so consistently? Every time they say it’s nothing, it turns out to be something. Each time they say a few weeks, it’s always a few months. This has happened so often it seriously makes me question the medical staff. I mean, they said it was a “bone bruise” and not broken or fractured. Now it’s fractured?
I can only wonder what Cole’s diagnosis is going to be when he’s supposed to return…
Sup Clip, I feel your pain. (Knock on wood) Any chance, albeit small, that DJ made his foot worse? Via practice, cage, lifting, etc. That was my first thought. Anyway, here’s to better health going forward for all teams
Gwynning: That is a possibility, I guess. But it seems, he would’ve felt it get worse. Regardless, what’s odd is how often this happens with the Yankees injuries. It’s constant, or so it seems.
I appreciate it, man! Hope all is well. I’m gonna catch the Pads game later too.
Dude fouled a ball off his foot.
****happens.
Clipper the Yankees have the credibility of a politician when it comes to injuries.
I don’t know if they honestly suck that bad at figuring out what’s wrong with players or are they purposely lying to us.
This is such a fan dumb statement. There have been countless.times when players have hit a ball off their foot and the initial swelling doesn’t reveal anything and then later a fracture is found.
Doctors generally know what they are doing. And the Yankees aren’t lying to you. Do you want to examine all their player Dr. Joe?
Just enjoy they are playing well so you get your dopamine rush and relax.
deej if you don’t see the pattern then I don’t know what to tell you. This is hardly an isolated incident.
How many foul balls off his foot have led to fractures, causing him to miss time to establish this “pattern” that you are talking about?? If you are talking about staying healthy in general, then fine. If you are saying he is constantly fouling pitches off his foot and breaking it, then I think you are not very good at this.
Lark: I believe Joe is referring to the repeated downplaying of injuries by the Yankees that has oftentimes led to players being out much longer than what they initially report, usually with injuries that the team initially reports they don’t have.
I don’t think he was referring DJL and foot injuries, specifically.
Step off the bridge Clipper. Cole was diagnosed by multiple doctors. This isn’t just their medical staff which is no different than any team’s in baseball.
Enjoy that the team is winning and relax.
I hear you, Deej. I am enjoying them; but how can a team get it wrong so often?
Rizzo: No concussion and was” back to normal” for months, until he was dis odes with a concussion.
Montas: Shoulder issue and was fully recovered, until he was out for the remainder of the season after throwing like….2 innings?
DJ’s foot last season: DJ was fully recovered from his foot problem until he couldn’t hit for several weeks straight and went on the IL long-term.
Judge: it was reported to be a short-term injury, until he missed 60(?) games or so.
Judge: ST injury this year when they took him out to get “other guys ABs”. Then they were going to play him that Wednesday and he didn’t return for another week.
Sevy: Well, just repeatedly
Harrison Bader
And many others. The point is: they either lie repeatedly about injuries for no reason, or they have arguably the worst medical review staff in MLB. Either way, it’s not good.
I think it’s both, lying and incompetence. I mean, the Ronald Mac Donald clown is a Yankee fan and worshipped Steingrabber. Birds of a feather. Sorry that you’re stuck rooting for them, but it’s pretty much impossible to switch teams. On the other hand, this life long Republican has no problem nor hesitation voting for JB. Sports is way more complicated than politics. And way more interesting.
Minor fractures in the small bones of the hands and feet can be difficult to diagnose right away. I think many observers figured they would discover a fracture after a couple of weeks once it was clear he wasn’t recovering right away (and in fact it is customary orthopedic practice to repeat imaging after a waiting period if symptoms persist for this reason). The Yankees do often downplay injuries but I think they telegraphed this one and I don’t think we were snookered. They didn’t say “we suspect a fracture even though the imaging doesn’t show it yet” because that sort of forecasting is probably a bad precedent, but they did pull off a trade that made their concerns obvious. I’m encouraged that they didn’t go for one of the more expensive insurance pitching options – tells me they are fairly confident in Cole’s return mid-season (and frankly I want to see what Gil and the other kids have)
Cheap Seats: Yeah, what you detailed makes sense. My issue isn’t with the fact that a fracture revealed itself, it’s with the Yankees saying “it’s a bone bruise with no fracture,” only to find out it is one and he will be out longer, which has happened with innumerable injuries to Yankees players.
Why not just say, “there’s too much swelling to definitively say and we will revisit this when the swelling goes down.”
Better now than later with him and Cole. This is Yankee baseball, no worries…yet
They keep chugging along regardless. Mindset of a champion
Yes, 82-80 is certainly Championship Chugging.
Is the expectation that the team will win the WS every year, or that the team will try to win the WS every year? Sometimes you have injuries and the wrong mix of players, not enough depth, players don’t develop as you had hoped, and you fall short of the goal. Then you get back to it in the off season, trade for Juan freaking Soto and start the season 3-0 for the first time in twenty years. This is not last year’s team. Juan Soto dawg!
Brian C to Chicago Cubs Jed Hoyer what will It take for Ian Happ & Nick M to be on plane to NY
Why would they want those guys when they have Cabrera and just traded for Berti?
Why would anyone want Madrigal?
Don’t need either of those players. I guess they would need to go online and purchase a plane ticket to NY, and then buy tickets for Hamilton.
Brittle Broken down goofy Yankees
Sigh… As much as I like the Berti trade, keep Oswaldo in the lineup and play the hot hand please.
MLB needs to invest in robotic limb replacement. Too many players on the injured list. What are fans paying for? Watching minor league players but paying MLB ticket prices.
What MLB needs to do is have the players playing MLB The Show in the center of the field on the big screens in the stadium. Then they just have to worry about thumb and finger fatigue. They can even make them wear race car unis while playing – ya know with patches from 47 different companies on them.
Then people can bet while the game is being played…and they can speed up the game even more!
The Yankees are irrelevant have been for the most part of the last two decades… But because the yanks play in NY the whole media community pretends they are great….The Yankees are irrelevant…
That certainly explains why the visiting Yankees always gives home teams an attendance boost whenever they’re playing.
Keep telling yourself that. They have played winning baseball for 30+ years in a row. That isn’t just relevant, it’s stupid crazy good..
I don’t know…”irrelevant” seems like it might be a bit hyperbolic. The Yankees are the most popular N American team in the *world*. I know it’s not much but it’s something.
Sup Clip! Not sure if you watched the game yesterday. Just before Soto hit his solo shot, why didn’t Boone challenge Grisham’s pickoff? It seemed like a close enough play where he could’ve been safe.
Come watch the most arrogant overrated bunch of rotten scum bags play against your team and root for them to lose and get injured? That sells.
Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. Envy is the desire for others’ traits, status, abilities, or situation. Why do you do it? Because others are luckier, smarter, more attractive, and more successful.
Tough for DJLM, but Oswaldo Cabrera has them covered.
How do the Yankees keep getting these injuries wrong?