Dan Clark cursed the Yankees.
On Friday, Jan. 11, the New York Yankees agreed to a two year, $24 million deal with former Cubs and Rockies second baseman DJ Lemahieu.
The report first came from YES reporter, Jack Curry, and was soon after confirmed by Ken Rosenthal.
Yankees are closing in on a two-year deal with infielder DJ LeMahieu,
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) January 11, 2019
Source confirms: Free-agent second baseman DJ LeMahieu heading to #Yankees on two-year deal. Believed to be in $24M range. First reported: @JackCurryYES.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 11, 2019
It is officially mid-January and Manny Machado has not signed with the Yankees. There are reports that the Yankees have dropped out of the mix for the marquee shortstop/third basemen, leaving it up to Philadelphia and the South Side of Chicago to ink Machado.
Dan Clark, a verified twitter user, originally reported the Yankees were going to sign Machado in early January and that all the offers were in front of Machado.
Have heard that the #Yankees, #Phillies, and #WhiteSox have all made their final offers to Manny Machado, and it is indeed New York where he’ll be heading. Announcement expected early-January.
— Dan Clark (@DanClarkSports) December 28, 2018
Well, it is the middle of January, and the Yankees have now made two moves that, when paired together, indicate they are out of the Machado sweepstakes.
Troy Tulowitzki OR DJ Lemahieu does not mean the Yankees have quit their pursuit of Machado…but Tulo AND Lemahieu, (and Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar, and Gleyber Torres) really fill up the infield and the Yankees would have to move someone to get Machado.
So there are heavy indications that Dan Clark was not 100 percent sure on his report and he may have cursed the Yankees by preemptively announcing the Machado deal.
If you want to be a glass-half full kind of fan, go right ahead. I am right behind you. DJ Lemahieu is a good signing. He has been part of the core for a successful Rockies team that has made the playoffs two years in a row.
A career 17.7 WAR indicates he is a very good player. His highest season WAR was 5.3 in 2016. He also led the National League in batting average that year at .348.
Take his stats with a grain of salt because of the Coors Field effect, but his power numbers were relatively the same home and away last season, slugging .433 at home at .422 away from Coors Field.
Defensvily, he plays a good second base, but he has also played short and third base. He also could play some first base according to Mark Feinsand on Twitter. With the injury-prone Tulo at short for the beginning of the year, DJ could be playing second while Gleyber plays some more shortstop.
The Yankees add another right handed bat to their lineup so they may have to make an addition for some sort of presence on the left side, especially without Didi in the first half of the season.
It is odd, with such a short porch in right field, one would think the lineup would be flooded with lefty power, not the other way around.
Stanton and Judge have opposite field power nonetheless, but at the moment, Gardner and Hicks as a switch hitter are the only everyday players who can bat left handed.
Yankees fans can look for more silver lining with this deal. Not signing Machado to a 300 million dollar deal allows them to have flexibility when Judge needs to get paid after arbitration. Also, the Yankees can go out and get a big FA next season…I know there is someone pretty decent who will be available next winter….
…what is his name…
Oh yeah, Mike Trout.
I would not get my hopes up to reel in Mike Trout, but who knows.
Also, the Yankees are not fully out of Machado’s corner. They put their offer in front of him and it seems like Machado wants more money. So if Machado really wants to come to New York, he can, but it will be for less money than he originally hoped.
With Philadelphia promising their fans that they were going to spend big, and the Yankees obviously not being willing to cash out for Manny, a move for a veteran infielder really seems to indicate the Yankees will be going in another direction other than Machado.
Listen, I hope they still land Machado, and they could. But the stars are aligning for him to go elsewhere when you add up these key points I hit on:
- Yankees are not offering enough money
- Reports have Yankees out of the mix
- Signed two new infielders, on that is a shortstop, one that is going to platoon
The Yankees have a dynamite bullpen, a very good rotation, depth in the infield and an outfield that wields guys named Judge and the highest paid player in Giancarlo Stanton.
Yankees fans do not have to worry too much without Machado. Obviously he would make them a much better team, but the Yankees are still a better team than they were last season and are poised for more than 162 games spanning to early November.
Featured Image: Justin Edmond/Getty Images
