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DJ LeMahieu of the New York Yankees celebrates his fifth-inning home run against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on June 8.
The New York Yankees have a hole that needs to be filled, which may leave D.J. LeMahieu as the odd man out.
LeMahieu has been the subject of both trade and DFA rumors for weeks, but the veteran infielder finally spoke out about how it has affected him.
LeMahieu, who will turn 37 on July 13, has one season left on his six-year, $90 million contract he signed after his batting-championship season of 2020. He has gotten hot of late by slashing .429/.478/.619 in June and hit his second home run of the season Sunday against Boston.
Still, LeMahieu is blocking Jazz Chisholm Jr from playing his natural position, second base, and the Yankees could seek an upgrade at either second or third base via trade.
New York is 39-25 and leads the American League East by four games over the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees are the reigning AL champs, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in last year’s World Series, and are seeking their first world title since 2009.
What Did D.J. LeMahieu Say About Being Traded?
Despite his recent hot spell, and the fact he won a gold glove in 2022, LeMahieu has been a black hole in the Yankees lineup over the past two seasons.
His batting average has dropped every year since 2020, cratering at an un-LeMahieu-like .204 in 2024. He finished with a .527 OPS and a paltry OPS+ of 51 last season while playing just 67 games last year then missed the first 41 games due to injury this year.
So when asked about if he is focusing on a potential deadline for a trade, or being released by the Yankees, LeMahieu was blunt.
“No, not at all,” LeMahieu told the New York Post. “I have too much else to focus on.”
But Post baseball insider Joel Sherman suggested the Yankees are giving LeMahieu a deadline of July 31 — the annual MLB trade deadline — to prove he is capable of playing every day before the Yankees consider a trade for an infielder.
“The Yanks are accommodating LeMahieu by letting him play second, where he feels most comfortable,” Sherman wrote in the New York Post on Sunday. “But the not-out-loud subsidiary reason the Yanks moved Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to third is because third base is a difficult position to currently envision a substantive player becoming available before the trade deadline.
“Thus, the Yanks wanted to open the potential to find a second or third baseman if necessary.”
Who Are The Yankees Targeting To Upgrade Their Infield?
New York has one of baseball’s most potent lineups, led by shoo-in MVP Aaron Judge, Chisholm, former NL MVPs Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt, young first baseman/DJ Ben Rice, plus the return of postseason hero Giancarlo Stanton — potentially this week.
But if the Yankees are targeting a third baseman, Nolan Arenado of the St. Louis Cardinals is the most likely fit. Arenado and the Yankees were linked in the off-season, but the Yankees balked at his contract, which has two more years at $21 million per year after 2025, per Spotrac.
Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Eugenio Suarez seems a likely fit too, since the power-hitting third baseman is a rental. He is on pace for his sixth 30-plus-homer season in the past eight years, and Arizona is wallowing two games under .500 with just a 19.9 percent chance to make the playoffs per Baseball-Reference.
Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens
