In an interview with NJ.com on Wednesday, New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit expressed great confidence that DJ LeMahieu will return to the Bronx in 2021.
â€If I was a gambling man, I’d want to put money on DJ coming back. I think he wants to be back. I hope he’s back because he’s one of the best players in baseball, one of the best hitters I ever played with. I want him in the pinstripes for the rest of his career.â€
Although LeMahieu has indicated that he’d like to continue his career in New York, negotiations between the two parties are at a standstill. LeMahieu is asking for at least five years, while the Yankees don’t want to go longer than four years. New York will likely offer a contract for around $20 million a year, a number that sounds as if it would satisfy LeMahieu.
Signing LeMahieu is a priority for the Yankees, but the team will have serious competition for him. The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers are pursuing LeMahieu, along with the 2019 champion Washington Nationals.
In his two years in pinstripes, LeMahieu finished in the top five of MVP voting both seasons. He won the batting title in 2020 and finished runner-up in 2019, winning a pair of Silver Slugger awards along the way.
LeMahieu has a .336 average in 195 games with the Yankees, adding a .922 OPS and a 145 OPS+. He’s hit 36 home runs and driven in 129 runs during his New York tenure.
The New York Yankees absolutely can’t let DJ LeMahieu walk this off-season. His performance is invaluable, and his teammates want him back in pinstripes. The Yankees need to give him an offer he can’t resist, or else he could be playing for a new club in 2021.