Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu recently underwent an MRI after tweaking a calf muscle during his spring debut and has been diagnosed with a strain, LeMahieu himself told the Yankees beat this morning (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). It’s a Grade 1 or 2 strain, and while there’s no official timetable yet, LeMahieu will go at least a “couple” weeks without any baseball activity at all. That seems likely to rule him out for Opening Day, though the team hasn’t yet formally announced as much. He’s meeting with the team’s medical staff this morning to map out a timetable.
It’s another health setback for the 36-year-old LeMahieu, who appeared in just 67 games last season due to foot and hip injuries. He wasn’t productive when on the field either, batting just .204/.269/.259 with a pair of homers in 228 trips to the plate. LeMahieu posted career-low marks in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate, and his 56.4% ground-ball rate was the second-highest mark of his career and sixth-highest in MLB (min. 220 plate appearances). For a player whose sprint speed checked into the 20th percentile of big league position players, that’s obviously not a good trend.
The Yankees originally signed LeMahieu to a two-year, $24MM deal in the 2018-19 offseason. It proved to be one of their best free agent pickups in recent memory, as he posted a mammoth .336/.386/.536 over those two years, finishing top-four in MVP voting in both 2019 and 2020. The Yankees re-signed LeMahieu for $90MM the following winter. That’s about the sum he was expected to land over a four-year pact, but the Yankees stretched it out over six seasons to lighten the luxury tax hit. He’s never recaptured that peak 2019-20 form, but LeMahieu was a solid and versatile contributor from 2021-23, hitting .258/.345/.375 with quality glovework at first base, second base and third base.
Despite the poor showing in 2024, LeMahieu entered camp squarely in the mix for regular reps at third base. The Yankees’ budget is seemingly at its limit. They’ve passed on adding an infielder at either second base or third base (Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play either spot) and appear committed to going with in-house options. LeMahieu, former top prospect Oswald Peraza and utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera have been vying for playing time at the hot corner.
LeMahieu’s remaining two years and $30MM were always going to put him on the roster with some type of role, but his injury opens the door for a younger option at third base — be it Peraza, Cabrera or perhaps Jorbit Vivas. Vivas didn’t make his spring debut until this week. He’d been dealing with some shoulder soreness, but he’ll likely join the third base competition now. He’s already on the 40-man roster.
He’s becoming a nightmare
Becoming?
I wish the Cubs (Theo) had never traded DJL in the first place. That said, it’s time for DJL to hang them up.
I’m sure he will as soon as his contract is up. But it wouldn’t shock me if the Yankees DFA’d him at some point fairly soon.
DJ would have been the utility infielder on the Cubs playoff teams like La Stella was. No big loss.
Oh really? Zobrist and Russell contribute too much after that championship year, not to mention Bryant’s injury history.
I think you’re being short sighted, DJ would have plenty of opportunities.
Yep.
2015-2018 fWAR:
DJ. 12.1
Baez 12.0
Russell 10.7
…“The timetable is” He grabs his stuff, goes home & watches the season on YES with the rest of us. See ya at the old timers game DJ. Ahahahahaha!
NYY are among the few who can outspend a few bad contracts like he/Stanton if a player is either bad or injured too much. Most teams would be toast.
First Stanton…then DJ…typical day in the Bronx.~
Gil with shoulder injury and Schmidt (cranky back). Yankees are the cast of Final Destination XXVII (27)
They stole Jobu’s rum…
Put up numbers, sign big contract, get injured.
Way too many players seem to follow this pattern. It’s not very good for baseball.
Brian Cashman probably furious that he didn’t sign Rendon.
and yet, half the commenters on this site complain that owners don’t spend enough money, advise teams to sign older players for too much money, etc. I guess a guy has to “make a living”…
The only thing hanging onto a thread of parity in baseball is the low-revenue teams’ ability to hang onto young guys cheaply. It’s a kludge. Players are most valuable in their mid-20’s, but if you pay them for their value then, the Rays and Guardians and Brewers of the world cannot compete. They’d lose all their good players before they even win a thing.
What is the solution? Lock out the players during the next CBA until they agree to a base pay structure and bonuses based on WAR after the season? Eliminate guaranteed contracts?
I’ve moved on from DJ. Even if he does end up playing some he’ll stink anyway. ¡Vamos Oswald(o)s!
DJ LeMightPlay
Fire up the Arenado Rumor Machine!
*Cranking* mechanical noises and engine firing to life then turning over with a triumphant roar
giant plume of black smoke envelpes the sky man coughing smiles and says “she’s a diesel!” Claps the dust out of his hat and puts the horrible wracket into gear and sets sail
DJL has not played in a single playoff game under his second Yankees contract. One of the worst underrated deals of the 2020s
This is actually a blessing in disguise. We’re actually better off when he doesn’t play.
Please just cut him already and free up that 40 man spot. Hicks still owed 9M+ this year and two more years at 15M each for LeMahieu.
We could trade you a very lightly used Jose Iglesias…
Syke!
@Gwynning – OMG…No thanks. LOL
Gwinning I don’t think he stays injured enough to meet our high standards.
As a Yankee fan, this is good news. DJL is an automatic out and nothing will change this. Baboon and Crashman hope he can find his way, but I hope they see the writing on the wall.
The contact is dead!
Free the roster spot!
Predictable.. If the Yankees can restrain themselves from doing a transaction they will regret. it’s a possible opportunity to go with the players they have in-house and see if they can perform.
I’m gonna take a beaten for this but I truly think the Yanks need to still move Stroman contract and even Grisham contract. That saves 23m. I would definitely bring up Everson Pereira to be that 4th outfielder and play more left if Dominguez struggles defensively. I would give third base to Oswald Peraza who is out of options. If the roster is 12 position players that means Rice is the DH/ 3rd string catcher and Dom Smith doesn’t make the team. Will Warren is the 5th starter. I can see Oakland/ Sacramento taking Stroman to eat innings with maybe a prospect going to them and Yanks eat some money. I can see Miami, maybe San Fran, Atlanta? There will be teams interested in a back end starter who induces groundballs in a big NL park.
Relax with the Will Warren talk.. It’s ST, he had an 11 era last season, The guy needs more time in AAA.
Stroman costs WAY too much for Miami and most teams. San Fran has a full rotation, and so does Atlanta. He wouldn’t make either team, at least as a starter. They’ve been trying to trade him all off-season. There’s a reason why they haven’t been able to. If they paid half his deal they might have a chance.
Another contract that did not age well.
This is how the decline stage of a natural mlb career works. Declining production and injuries are neither surprising nor newsworthy. If everything goes well you get 100 games and he is replacement level or a bit better. Limited upside and a floor that might range from boat anchor to DFA.
PED’s changed the script on aging baseball players. If you’re still at peak performance into your late 30’s you’re doing steroids – guys like Arod, Bonds, Ortiz come to mind and they are all known users. Never saw baseball players before PED’s maintain peak performance as they aged.
Cashman make the move! Get Arenado, enough of this mess at 3rd going on for at least 3rd season! Bring up the boppers in minors as needed, that are showing promise this Sp Training. DJ is done, platooning Cabrera & Pereira who bat less that .225 avg is nuts!
The Yankees need LH bats, not another aging RH.
More importantly, Cashman updated on Gil’s status and the kid is out three months! Ugh, much bigger blow.
Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!
Typical Yankees paying big money for past achievements without paying attention to obvious decline in skills
While I disliked the signing in the first place, he was a free agent coming off of 2020, where he picked up 3WAR in just 50 games, finished 3rd in MVP voting, and 2019, where he got 5.6WAR, and was 4th in MVP voting.
Not for nothing, when DJL entered free agency after the 2020 season, everyone all but insisted the Yankees needed to bring him back. I can not recall any commentator on the MLB network or anywhere else saying the contract was a bad one art the time.
It’s not as if Crashman sign a guy with a missing leg.
You are correct. That was all the hype in Yankeeland and MLB. The Yankees can’t be a winning team without DJL! He’s the heartbeat of the team! That heartbeat flatlined as soon as the ink dried on the contract! Glad we missed that Soto contract as well. That’s going to age like a fart in an elevator.
There has always been injury in the game but over the years they have been increasing at an alarming rate, be it pitcher or position player. It is more understandable as Pitchers have been forcing their arms to move in unnatural ways with extreme force just to remain on the roster. Position players may just be practicing and exercising too much that it is wearing down their bodies. Back in the day the players said that more red meat, more beer, and rest is the recipe for longevity. Lol.
Lifting from the fridge > Lifting weights
MLBTR editors would be wise to save “DJ LeMahieu Diagnosed With…” for future use. Time-saver. Maybe a screen saver as well
I admit I was one of those folks who said “the 2 year $24M deal went historically well, lets give him 4 years/$100M to 6 years/$120M!!!” and I will also admit we should have let him walk after that first two year deal, that this deal has been a disaster and would’ve been a disaster had it been 4 or 5 years instead of 6 years.
Must be a slow ‘Moos’ (news) day
If the Yanks were to eat a decent portion of his remaining salary, I wonder if the Tigers wouldn’t mind bring him back home to the Detroit Area help out at 3B and 1B and finish his career where he grew up.
@Theoldgoalie – I would eat 20M of the 30M for a lower level Tigers prospect. I like #19 lefty Jake Miller or #26 RH Zach Swanson. It makes LeMahieu a 5M a year player.
Phantom IL stint to start the season
Hey Mr. DJ, put a record on
I wanna dance with my baby
And when the music starts, I never wanna stop
It’s gonna drive me crazy
ARod is not amused by your musical selection.
Breaking news: DJ Lemahieu will miss the 2025 season after suffering a stubbed toe at home Sunday night.
Shut down for a few weeks? That’s laughable. Rendon would have seen 5+ Dr’s, eventually gotten the torn calf muscle diagnosis he was looking for and sat out the entire season.
So it’s like the 5th or 6th year in a row that a Yankees roster, riddled with injury prone players, will get “devastated” by injuries.
But can we just stop with the horrible acting by Steinbrenner and Cashman at the press conferences pretending like this was unforeseen?
We all knew these exact players were most likely going to be on the IL sooner rather than later. So just stop. Stop it. This was easily predictable. Cashman and Hal decided to ignore it completely. Just stop stop stop stop with the excuses.
300m payroll and we have no starting 3B, no backup C, the bench is terrible….Stanton, DJ and Gil are already hurt and we’re relying on a 37 year old coming off several down years to hit cleanup this year.
I love my team, but this roster is constructed like crap. AS IS, this is a 3rd place team. Yeah, I said it. I’m not a blind homer, I’m a realist.
Surprise, surprise, surprise.