Yankees, DJ LeMahieu reach unusual $90 million deal after tepid Mets interest

The staredown is finally over. The Yankees’ offseason has finally begun.

Multiple industry sources confirmed Friday that the Yankees and DJ LeMahieu have agreed on a six-year, $90-million contract. The agreement was first reported by MLB.com and the figures by Pat Ragazzo. The deal, which is unusually structured, will take LeMahieu, who will turn 33 in July, through 2026, the season in which he will turn 38.

With their first major transaction since their 2020 campaign concluded with an American League Division Series loss to the rival Rays last October 9, the Yankees — who had made clear they were putting aside all other tasks until resolving LeMahieu’s future — accomplished their top goal of retaining their best player from the past two seasons, and they therefore can move onto bolstering their starting rotation. They quickly moved onward by signing two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, who has missed most of the two prior seasons with injuries.  

The DJ détente occurred on Thursday, exactly two years after the Yankees announced their initial signing of LeMahieu. That transaction, a two-year, $24-million pact, paid off brilliantly for the Yankees. The soft-spoken LeMahieu (who had compiled a below-average 92 OPS+ in seven years with the Rockies) not only upgraded his offensive output in dramatic fashion, posting a 145 OPS+ for 2019 and 2020 and finishing among the top four in AL Most Valuable Player voting both seasons, but also found great comfort in New York’s hustle and bustle, so much so that, if he and the Yankees couldn’t find common ground, LeMahieu wanted to join the Mets (who ultimately expressed only mild interest). LeMahieu’s popularity among his Yankees teammates further compelled the team to retain him.

The slow pace of the talks clearly frustrated LeMahieu, who also entertained strong interest from the Blue Jays and Dodgers. Nevertheless, the Yankees, after enduring an economic bloodbath in 2020 with a shaky forecast for 2021, stood their ground on controlling costs. Spreading out LeMahieu’s desired dollars (after it became clear he wouldn’t surpass $100 million or even the $92 million that the Twins committed to Josh Donaldson last winter) through the Yankees’ desired years will lessen the luxury-tax burden and provide them with more 2021 payroll flexibility as they attempt to stay under the $210 million luxury-tax threshold, and proved to be the special sauce that concluded the game of chicken.

The move significantly increases the likelihood the Yankees will return the same position-playing core from last season. In December, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters, “I am not pursuing a plan of trying to trade Luke Voit to sign LeMahieu to play first. My plan is, if we sign [LeMahieu], for him to play second base.”

That in turn means that Gleyber Torres, who entered the big leagues as a second baseman, will slide back over to shortstop, where he struggled last season, unless the Yankees trade him. The Yankees already passed on a deal for Indians superstar shortstop Francisco Lindor, who instead went to the Mets, although the free-agent market still features a trio of interesting shortstops in old friend Didi Gregorius as well as Marcus Semien and Andrelton Simmons.

— Additional reporting by Joel Sherman