New York Yankees News/Rumors: Sweepstakes for LeMahieu heat up, Yankees sign another pitcher and more

New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu
USA Today

New York Mets in the DJ LeMahieu picture

The New York Yankees may have a battle with the crosstown New York Mets for the services of DJ LeMahieu. Many teams are interested in the best MLB player for the last two years. The team most often mentioned in the LeMahieu sweepstakes is the Toronto Blue Jays, although many other teams are interested as well. Now it is known that the New York Mets have contacted the Wasserman Group, DJ’s agent.

Jon Heyman, an insider at the MLB Network, reported that the New York Mets had entered the battle for the second baseman this year’s batting title winner. This news further muddies up the picture as to whether the Yankees can re-sign the star.

Reports indicate that the Yankees and LeMahieu are far apart in getting a deal to have him return to the Bronx. Reports say that the sides are at least $25 million apart on a deal. The Yankees would like a three year deal for $75 million but probably would advance to four years and $100 million if it would get a deal done. The catch is the LeMahieu is now asked for $125 million across a five-year contract. General manager Brian Cashman said on Sunday:

“Hopefully, we can have that type of experience where it doesn’t matter how long it takes, as long as it has an ultimate outcome that’s successful,” Cashman said. “But there’s no guarantee that it will.”

New York Yankees sign no-name pitcher

The New York Yankees appear to be digging deep for pitching help, as they have just signed a pitcher that hasn’t played in the Major Leagues for the last five years. The Yankees have reportedly signed Lucas Luetge. The signing is not even noteworthy other than to let you know that the Yankees are scouring the market for pitching help.

Luetge last pitched in the Major Leagues in 2015 for the Seattle Mariners. Since then, he has been in the minors with the Oakland  A’s, Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati Reds, and Arizona Diamondbacks, but failed to crack the big league roster with any of those organizations.  The 33-year-old had Tommy John surgery midway through the 2017 season and didn’t pitch during 2018. According to reports upon his return, he tore up the minors in 2019, but unfortunately for Luetge, the 2020 minor league season was canceled.

In 2020 he was on the taxi squad for the Oakland A’s but never made the 40 man roster. It would have been more than nice to see what he could have done last year, but in 2019 he posted for Triple-A Reno a lefty record of 9-3 with a 2.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 74 strikeouts in 55 games (68 innings). The New York Yankees have signed him to a minor league contract. The Yankees will be watching him closely in spring training.

The Yankees help the Bronx neighborhood.

In their tradition of giving back to the Yankee Stadium neighborhood, the New York Yankees continue to do so during the pandemic. It was recently announced that they had contributed $50K to a fund to help businesses around Yankee Stadium that suffered a business loss due to no fans at the Stadium.  Businesses around the stadium reap huge rewards from fans attending games, but with no games last season, many are struggling to stay alive, including the 93-year-old Yankee tavern.

The Yankees have committed to 10 grants of $5k each to help out those struggling businesses. It is not the first offer of help as they contributed earlier with $75k to help restaurants and souvenir shops. In the spirit of Christmas, the Yankees have also purchased 68k pounds of food to help feed the needy in the Yankee Stadium neighborhood. That is along with $200,000 in food vouchers for Bronx families.

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