The Heart or the Brain: Would the Yankees actually be better off without signing LeMahiue?

In today's Murdoch Mildew, Joel Sherman - the paragon of paragraphs and begotten king of the Gammonites - outlines the arguments pro-and- con, nip-and-tuck, up-and-down, and higgety-piggety, for spending the Yankee war chest on D.J. LeMahieu. 

You don't need binoculars to read between the lines: 

That no matter how  great LeMahieu is, the Death Barge might be better off spending its money elsewhere. 

Sherman offers a whispery, backdoor analysis, one we've pondered since the rotation exploded in November, with James Paxton, J.A. Happ and Masahiro Tanaka filing for freedom. For weeks, the tabloids have taken the easy route, simplistically crusading for the Yankees to re-sign their best player. Even today, Sherman doesn't come out and say otherwise. But questions trickle out.

... [I]f LeMahieu returns, he would play second. That means sticking with Gleyber Torres at short and Luke Voit at first. Still, even an in-shape Torres is going to be, at best, an ordinary shortstop. The Yankees are looking at ordinary or worse up the middle with Torres, Gary Sanchez at catcher and Aaron Hicks in center.

Then there is the batting order.

They also are pretty much committing again to a lineup oversaturated with righty hitters, with only the switch-hitting Hicks currently projected to play regularly and hit from the left side... The concern is about making the picture too easy for teams with good righty pitching.

We've discussed this all winter. Interesting that, with the holidays approaching - knowing that some players like to wrap things up by then - Sherman puts this into play. No conspiracy theories, but for months, I've believed Brian Cashman is merely paying lip service to LeMahieu, talking up the need to keep him, without scribbling the right numbers onto the napkin. 

If the Yankees absolutely wanted LeMahieu - above all else - they'd have signed him by now. In fact, they're clutching their fanny pack. This could backfire: If the Mets, Redsocks or Blue Jays jump in, they'll have to respond. 

The Yankees have vowed not to make a move until LeMahiue makes up his mind. It's a nice way to pay homage, without actually paying the player. At some point, the dominoes will start dropping. Then, watch out.