Monday, January 11, 2021

The LeMahieu Waiting Plan is getting old, fast

Five weeks ago, the strategy looked bold and spicy, like a new jar of Gulden's: 

To show their puppylike loyalty to D.J. LeMahieu, the Yankees would make no major move this winter, waiting for The Deeje to decide where he'll play in 2021. A heartwarming show of respect to a great hitter and de facto team co-captain (with Gardy, of course.) 

This was also a cynical bargaining ploy, on the cheapo side. They made a lowball offer and sat on it, waiting out the holidays. 

The wait may be ending. According to the Internet, LeMahieu is tired of Yankee foot-dragging and Netflix binges, and he's ready to take offers from the Dodgers, Jays, Mariners and/or - (gasp) - the Money Mets. If so, the Yankees might have squandered their inside track to the man they claimed to want most of all.

So goes Cashman's quarantine...

Honestly, who knows what to make of these rumors? They could be LeMahieu's last push before re-signing. (He still claims the Yankees are his first choice.) Or has Hal Steinbrenner's self-imposed penny-pinching  finally pushed D.J. out the door? Until something pops - this week? - we are all Sergeant  Schultzes: We. Know. Nothink.

But but BUT... here is somethink: 

The longer the two sides dicker, the more other free agents sign, and the less opportunities the Yankees have to improve, with or without D.J. If he really intends to re-sign, if this is just a mating dance, we are now entering a dangerous phase, where further delays could cost us pitching. And if he's truly gone, this waiting game could be a full-blown disaster.

Full disclosure: On this, I'm around the bend. If we keep LeMahieu, Gleyber plays SS. If we don't, he moves to 2B, and we sign a glove guy, maybe Didi. Either way, we have options. 

But if this goes too long, we could end up with a gigantic hole up the middle. The wait is growing old, like the final, dried-up dabs in a jar of Gulden's. 

With or without D.J., it's time to resolve this.

8 comments:

Joe Formerlyof Brooklyn said...


I've contemplated (briefly) the WHY of what the Yankees are doing and have done in this offseason, including returning ICS to the fold and not coming up with big bux for DJL. And not adding pitchers. And not moving Miggy. And sticking with Judge despite repeated and frequent injuries.

And so on.

My conclusion is that they have reviewed the past 10 offseasons of Doing Something. And the obvious conclusion -- to which just about all participants on this blog came a long time ago -- is that it would have been better, in most cases, to stand still.

In other words: Don't Just Do Something, Stand There.

As usual, the execution of this strategy may not be above reproach . . .

JM said...

I'm less worried about fielding than about hitting. Without DJ, we lack a regular lineup hitter who actually hits--and often with men on base! What a concept.

The fish rots from the head down. And I'm looking at you, Halitosis.

HoraceClarke66 said...

Yeah, Joe FOB, I wrote a post with that same heading sometime last year, in relation to some other dumb thing they wanted to do.

But this is different. The team fell short again last year—then continued to deteriorate, especially when it comes to pitching. Now they want to let the batting champ who can play almost anywhere walk?

It's like they're planning to tank the decade.

Alphonso said...

It doesn't matter how it revolves itself.

We have Giancarlo Stanton for seven more years !!

ranger_lp said...

Michael Kay discussed this today...it should clear up what's going on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTTfEtFA66U

Anonymous said...

People on this site whine about signing like Stanton's, saddling the team with well-over-thirty players FOREVER, during years when they will likely be on the decline, sapping the team's resources, instead of building with young, dynamic, explosive talent like the Rays, for example. Then these same whiners turn on their heels and start panting after LeMahieu. See the irony, the big-name-fucker recidivism at work, among fans and imbecile daily sportswriters and the inept Yankee executive corps?

Here's my feeling about LeMahieu: he's put up some good numbers during his Yankee stint, but the year before he joined the Yanks, he pretty much SUCKED. For an entire year. WHich LeMahieu will be showing up post-bonanza contract? Are you SURE about this? Aside from being on the likely downside of his career--you can't fool Mother Nature--he's a slow, phlegmatic kind of guy--an energy suck--the kind of cipher who drains the energy out of any room--or any ballfield--he occupies. I think it would be a huge blessing, a bullet dodged, if Cashman can manage NOT to bind himself to LeMahieu for the next four or five years. I'd much rather see a keystone combo of Tyler Wade and Gleyber Torres. Did you notice that one of the Yankees' most sustained winning streaks in 2020 came when all the old farts were on the IL--including LeMahieu--and Cashman was grudgingly forced, at long last, to give all the young talent a chance? Hmmm . . .

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