Second baseman DJ LeMahieu and the New York Yankees are settling a six-year, $90 million agreement, sources acquainted with the understanding disclosed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
LeMahieu completed third in the American League MVP casting a ballot in the wake of winning the AL batting title with a MLB-driving .364 normal during the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season, turning out to be only the fourth part in Yankees history to lead the majors in that classification, alongside Mickey Mantle (.353 of every 1956), Joe DiMaggio (.381 out of 1939) and Lou Gehrig (.363 out of 1934).
It was the subsequent vocation batting title for the 32-year-old LeMahieu, who won the National League crown with a .348 batting normal for the Colorado Rockies in 2016. He joined Hall of Famer Ed Delahanty (1899, 1902) as the solitary players to win batting titles in the two groups.
LeMahieu had dismissed a one-year, $18.9 million qualifying offer by the Yankees.
While seeing the vast majority of his playing time at a respectable halfway point, LeMahieu, who made $12 million out of 2020, likewise saw activity from the outset and third base. He has first class contact abilities and plate discipline, completing the season with 10 grand slams, including a MLB-best seven to the contrary field, 41 runs scored and 27 RBIs, and he drove the AL in on-base rate (.421), OPS (1.011) and OPS+ (177).
“If you add up the last two years in Major League Baseball, he’s on the short list of short lists for being the best player in the sport,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the regular season. “He’s been that impactful. In the biggest moments, he always seems to deliver.”
In two seasons with the Yankees, LeMahieu has a .336 batting normal more than 195 games, with 36 homers, 129 RBIs, 150 runs scored and a .922 OPS. During that length, he drove the majors with 80 multihit games and was second with 268 hits while posting a .384 batting normal with sprinters in scoring position.
He additionally challenged the apparent standard by hitting grand slams with more recurrence while playing for the Yankees (each 24 plate appearances) than he did with the Rockies (76).
The possibly hiccup in his 2020 season came when he arrived on the 10-day harmed list in August after he hyper-extended his thumb on an off-kilter swing. It was the second time he had harmed that thumb; he likewise broke a little bone in it while with the Rockies in 2018.
The three-time All-Star selection has a Silver Slugger Award (2019) and three Gold Glove Awards (2014, 2017, 2018) to his name, demonstrating his incentive at the plate and in the field. In 2018, while with the Rockies, he drove all significant leaguers in protective relapse examination.
In 10 major league seasons, LeMahieu, a second-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in the 2009 draft, has a .305 profession batting normal with 85 homers, 478 RBIs, 651 runs scored and a .787 OPS.
