The New York Yankees finally crossed off the top item on their to-do list, agreeing with second baseman DJ LeMahieu on a six-year, $90 million contract. The deal keeps the 2020 batting champion in the Bronx through 2026, his age-32 though age-37 seasons.
Here are some thoughts on the signing and what might be next for the Yankees:
LeMahieu is kind of both overrated and underrated. Much of the discussion during the offseason has been how the Yankees have to sign LeMahieu, like he's one of the greatest Yankees of all time. I never bought into that because the Yankees had options in play, as they could have slid Gleyber Torres to second base and signed one of the shortstops on the free-agent market (Marcus Semien, Andrelton Simmons, Didi Gregorius). Even if that would have been a one-year fix, all the other other shortstops that hit free agency next season (Francisco Lindor, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Javier Baez) mean there are other ways they could have found the long-term solution.