New York Yankees: DJ LeMahieu key to offseason plans

The New York Yankees have centered their offseason plans around priority No. 1: re-signing DJ LeMahieu.

While this isn’t necessarily breaking news, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, again on Wednesday, proclaimed the importance of re-signing DJ LeMahieu this offseason. During a Zoom call with reporters, Cashman doubled down on the importance of this priority.

In fact, Cashman declared the entire offseason plan hinges on re-signing Lemahieu, the overwhelming top priority.

"“Certainly it’s, you know, driving the bus, a little bit,” said the Yankees GM. “[DJ] is a big piece of that [championship commitment] and we’re certainly not dipping our toes in various waters until we get a feel for how [he] declares himself.”"

On one hand, this should be seen as promising news for Yankees fans. The ownership and front office understand the importance of this re-signing and appear to be taking any steps necessary to make this happen.

But, New York is different. There’s no team with a fanbase that applies more pressure than the Yankees. Despite the canceling of the traditional Winter Meetings, it seems like the clock is ticking in New York.

As you’ll remember, by this time last season the Yankees had already signed superstar starting pitcher Gerrit Cole. Fortunately for the Yankees’ management, none of the other top-tier free agents have committed their 2021 services yet. Adam Eaton and Carlos Santana are the biggest names to have already signed contracts this offseason, while the Lance Lynn move made a splash, but via trade.

Still, LeMahieu is in the top-tier of this offseason’s free-agent class. The 32-year-old second baseman led all of the MLB in batting average last season with a .364/.421/.590 batting line, adding 10 home runs. He finished as an AL MVP finalist while becoming the first player in modern baseball history to win the batting title in both the American and National Leagues.

Throughout the call with reporters, Cashman echoed a combination of optimistic vibes while also providing some tempering of expectations.

"“The atmosphere is good, the fact that he wants to stay and we’d like to keep him,” Cashman said. “But that doesn’t guarantee anything because in free agency, you know, anything can happen. So, you know, we’ll see what happens over the course of time but our intent is to try to find a way to make it happen.”"

Priority number one for the Yankees is re-signing LeMaheiu. If New York is successful and adds some kind of depth to their starting rotation or bullpen this offseason, then they’ll be considered one of the World Series favorites again next season. A fairly simple plan for the offseason, but this is all about the execution.