* The '24 Yanks reached the world series.
* Even if they embarrassed themselves in game five - which they did! - it was their best season since 2009.
* Even if they wimped out with Juan Soto - which they did! - they still have the game's greatest slugger.
* Even if the Mets rise - which they might - Soto will never be quite the same, as he hits in front of someone not named Aaron Judge.
* The Orioles, our chief threat in the AL East, have regressed this winter.
* Toronto is Toronto, Tampa is Tampa, and Boston is fulminating about another youth movement - third in the last five years? Remember when Baseball America gushed over Baltimore's looming dynasty? There's a big chasm (or Chisholm) between wowing the slobbery scouts and winning.
So many questions. So many asterisks. But at the risk of being Joe Pollyanna, let me stress: All is NOT horrible. With a breakout here and a comeback there, the Yankees could take the AL East and - from there - maybe next time our ace will cover first?
But today, front and center, comes a question haunting one of their core, a coach in player form, the ever hustling D.J. LeMahieu. If he could bounce back, our infield issues would disappear.
But but BUT... here is the realty of DJ in 10 points.
1. In July, he'll turn 37 - a point-of-no-return for most players.
2. Last year - this is not a typo - he hit .204. Really. Two oh four.
3. Over the last four seasons, his numbers have steadily crumbled. His batting averages: .268, .261, .243, .204. His RBIS: 57, 46, 44, 26. Yikes.
4. He bats RH in a lineup that needs lefties.
5. In recent years, he's faced nonstop injuries. One after another. The Yankees have used them as an excuse for his decline. But his body seems to be breaking down.
6. The Yankees will pay him $30 million over the next two years.
7. If not for the contract, they would probably DFA him. As it is, they can't trade him. He's tethered to the deal.
8. The Yankees could really use him. Depending on where Jazz Chisolm ends up, they have an opening at 3B or 2B, and their 1B, Paul Goldschmidt, is actually older.
9. LeMahieu is famously disciplined, a "fundamentals" player, always prepared. It's not crazy to think that could put together one final decent year. He's worth a gamble.
10. He needs a great spring training. There is no net. He has to hit. He has to look good in the field.
Listen: I like the fact that LeMahieu has one last shot. He deserves one. I don't think anybody expects a return to 2020. But hey, ya never know.
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18 comments:
DJ has a lot left in the tank. At least 30 million. Wait, I meant bank, not tank.
the only useful thing left with DJ is his cool sunglasses…someone can borrow them. That’s it.
Hoping this Mariano story has no legs.
Here’s the thing: when teams tack on extra years to a contract to ameliorate the yearly luxury tax hit, it comes with the understanding that you will likely have to release aging players before the end of the contract and so have dead money on your hands. Pathetically, the Yankees refuse to bite the bullet band and will embarrass declining players by having them play. The NYY prefer to have “stars” whose names people recognize in order to entice the rubes into their over priced pleasure palace. DJLM was a very good player who simply got old. My forecast is that he will spend most of the year on the IL, for maladies real or imagined, which will at least allow some younger players to play. He will probably be released sometime in ‘26, ending the farce.
How I wish the Steinbrenner/Cashman farce would come to an end as well.
It seems like it may be an issue with the church involved (where Clara Rivera is a pastor). https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/23/sport/mariano-rivera-church-lawsuit-sexual-abuse-spt/index.html
Answer to question posed: NO
I wonder if DJ likes music? He can always be a DJ.
Great point, 999! Yes, HAL—operating as if he is a 19th-century factory owner, when in fact he has never built any business—demands that the workers stay on the job and put in a full season's work.
So...again and again, instead of being paid to simply go away, or maybe mess up some other team, payers are paid top dollar to hurt...the Yankees. Brilliant!
dj, dj
please, please go away
don't come back
another day
use that boot*
upon your bum
out the door
'cause you are done
watching you
is no more fun
yay!
*made you look
As I understand it, this girl's family claims she was molested in the shower by another girl her own age, and now their lawyer wants a lot of money because they don't think the Riveras looked into it enough. The Riveras were supposed to adjudicate a "she said/she said" situation between teen girls? Seems a little suspicious, especially considering the lawyer's rush to the tabloids.
Of course, I don't know what happened, and Mariano is the GOAT. Yet, I've never liked his constant invocation of God. I'm always wary of people who publicly refer to a deity or try to show how devout they are. I have no problem with a person who has a strong spiritual inclination. However, the truly spiritual person doesn't proselytize, much like a true philanthropist remains anonymous. I suspect there is more here than meets the eye. I hope that I'm wrong.
Soon, the owners will bully the MLBPA into allowing a team that owes a ton of cash to an aging player, like the situation with DJ, to remove him from the 40-man roster and use the guy as a butler, domestic help, or in a "personal services" capacity. Just kidding, but Hal, in most cases, would rather have bamboo shoved under his nails than pay someone 15 million and then release him. Sure, he released Hicks with 2 years remaining at 10 million per, hoping that another team would take on that contract in the following year. So, most likely, that's Hal's salary dump limit.
The weirdest thing about the story, if I remember correctly, is that the same girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a male at another churchy venue, quite a while after. Seems very strange. Or am I misremembering what I read?
I am the DJ, I am what I play. Can't turn around, no, can't turn around.
Hoss, you obviously don't understand how a big business works. Hal is an expert.
Okay, I burst out laughing just typing that.
Maybe Cash can trade DJ and Stroman in a package deal. I hear the Dodgers have plenty of money.
We are a poorly run team.
that does know how to run . . . the bases
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