New York Yankees: DJ LeMahieu is still MLB’s most undervalued star

After two straight top-4 MVP finishes with the New York Yankees, DJ LeMahieu is one of the most sought after free agents in the market. While he is due for a big payday, he still remains one of the most undervalued stars in baseball.

In the modern MLB, DJ LeMahieu is an extremely rare breed. Where more and more hitters are taking an all-or-nothing approach, LeMahieu just wants to put the ball in play. As a result, he has a league-leading .336 batting average over the past two seasons, and took home the AL batting title in 2020.

When the New York Yankees signed him to a two-year, $24 million deal in 2019, he wasn’t even expected to be an everyday starter. However, he immediately took advantage of his opportunities and made himself an invaluable piece at the top of an already potent Yankees lineup. That deal might go down as GM Brian Cashman’s best in terms of return on investment.

Now, LeMahieu is a free agent again. This time, he will certainly require a much higher price tag. The New York Yankees have the money to retain him, but will face significant competition from spend-ready teams like the Blue Jays, Mets, and Nationals. In reality, any team could benefit from Lemahieu’s services, so don’t be surprised if some unlikely teams emerge as potential suitors.

So, now that LeMahieu’s elite production is no secret, how can he still be one of the most undervalued players in baseball? MLB.com ranked DJ as the 4th overall free agent in this year’s class, behind J.T. Realmuto, Trevor Bauer, and George Springer. Given Lemahieu’s age at 32 and a general trend away from his style of play in the MLB, It is likely he will earn less than his free agent peers. However, the numbers suggest his value should actually be higher than what the market will give him.

Here are three reasons why should be at the top of every GM’s list

1. He doesn’t just make contact, he makes HARD contact

Don’t mistake DJ LeMahieu scrappy, slap-and-poke contact hitter. Because he’s not. In fact, he is one of the most complete, all around hitters the game has seen in a long time. In Colorado, he earned the reputation as a high-average, low power contact hitter. From the outside, he looked like a Coors Field product, and many doubted his production would withstand a move away from the Rockies.

A look into Statcast tells a different story. Over the past two season, LeMahieu is 15th in overall hard hit rate with 48.0% of balls in play. However, he leads the entire league in batting average over that period, resulting in 332 total hard hit balls in play. The only person ahead of him? 2020 AL MVP Jose Abreu.

If you want a larger sample size, since he became an everyday player in 2012, Lemahieu is third in total hard hit balls in play with 1163. He sits only behind Manny Machado and Mookie Betts, who both make $30 million plus per year on their new mega-contracts. Batting average can certainly be a misleading statistic, but those peripheral numbers do not lie.

Additionally, his power production has reached another level since coming to the Bronx. In seven seasons in Colorado, LeMahieu had 49 home runs and a .408 slugging percentage. In just two seasons with the New York Yankees, he has 36 home runs and a whopping .536 slugging percentage. How’s that for a scrappy contact hitter?

2. Gold Glove defense all around the diamond

If his offensive production wasn’t enough, LeMahieu is also one of the most rock-solid second basemen in the league. As the everyday second baseman in Colorado, DJ won three Gold Gloves over a five year span from 2014-2018. When he came to the New York Yankees, there was uncertainty where he would play in the infield with Gleyber Torres locked in at Second.

Once his bat became a staple at the top of the lineup, Lemahieu displayed his defensive versatility. He filled in nicely for the injured Miguel Andujar at third base before Gio Urshela’s emergence. When Greg Bird went down, he took a stab at first base, and filled in nicely there as well. Overall, he logged 262 innings at first, 579.2 at second, and 400 at third. He rated above average at all three positions, thus further demonstrating his value to a Yankees team that has been bitten hard by the injury bug in the past two seasons.

In 2020, Lemahieu resumed his role as the everyday second baseman with the departure of shortstop Didi Gregorius. However, manager Aaron Boone still relied heavily on LeMahieu’s versatility late in games, often sliding him over to first base in place of Luke Voit to seal the deal.

For a hitter as prolific as LeMahieu, it is rare for him to also be a high-quality utility player. That is why he could be sought after by many teams for a variety of roles. For example, he could fill the Mets’ void at third base, or become the everyday first baseman in Toronto, allowing Vlad Guerrero Jr. to DH full-time.

3. He was more valuable to the New York Yankees success than many think

It’s no secret that the New York Yankees already had one of the most potent lineups before LeMahieu’s emergence. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton will always grab the headlines for their gargantuan power, but no player had a bigger impact on the Yankees’ success than DJ LeMahieu.

In 2019 and 2020, he finished fourth and third in the AL MVP voting, respectively. While he came up short of the award, its possible he was the most important piece to any true contender. In a homerun-dependent lineup that strikes out at a very high rate, his consistent and clutch bat has proven vital.

According to Fangraphs, LeMahieu has a 7.8 WAR during his Yankee tenure which ranks 12th in the majors. Based on WAR alone, his current market value is appropriate. However, a perhaps more compelling case is how the Yankees offense has struggled mightily without his presence in the lineup. When he went down with a sprained thumb on August 16th, the Yankees stumbled through their worst stretch of the year. He only missed eight games, but the Yankees lost seven of them. During that stretch, they hit an atrocious .195 and produced a league-low 25 runs. They lost three key games to Tampa Bay Rays, surrendering the AL East lead which they never got back.

When LeMahieu returned to the lineup on August 29th, the Yankees got back on track. From that point on, they had the league’s fifth-best rated offense in terms of run production. DJ LeMahieu’s personal success was contagious to Yankees hitters, and the numbers show he was even more valuable than his WAR suggests.