Yankees: Will D.J. LeMahieu be an everyday player in 2019?

D.J. LeMaheiu is expected to fill a super utility role for the Yankees this season even though for the most part he’s only played second base throughout his career. The two-time All-Star is used to being in the lineup all the time but on this Yankee team, there might not be a path for him to play every day.

First, let me start by saying I think the Yankees made a good move when they signed LeMahieu back on January 14th. With Didi Gregorius expected to miss at least the first half of the season recovering from TJ surgery, LeMahieu will bring gold glove caliber defense to the middle infield in his absence. He’s also a terrific contact hitter who doesn’t strike out a lot, just like Didi is.

I believe LeMahieu is going to make this Yankee team better on both sides of the ball while Didi is out, however, it remains to be seen how often he’s going to be in the starting lineup. With Gleyber Torres projected to be the primary second basemen and Lemahieu’s former Rockies teammate Troy Tulowitzki projected to be the primary shortstop where does DJ fit into the mix?

A lot of that will depend on how Spring Training plays out because so much could happen over the next six weeks. Even though Tulowitzki is going to get the majority of the reps at shortstop this spring there’s always the possibility that he gets hurt. If he lands on the DL again like he has so many times throughout his career than LeMahieu should and would likely take over as the everyday second basemen with Torres shifting over to shortstop.

Personally, I think the Yanks would be better off with Torres as the everyday shortstop anyway but they seem committed to keeping him at second. That’s going to to be his primary position in the long run so it’s understandable why they don’t want him moving around at multiple positions, but I think a lineup with Gleyebr and DJ both in it gives the Yanks their best chance to win. Because given Tulo’s injury history and the decrease in his production over the past couple years the Yankees shouldn’t rely on him to be their everyday shortstop.

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Another factor in all this is LeMahieu is set to make $12M over the next two seasons while Tulo is being paid the league minimum. Because of this, the Yankees shouldn’t feel obligated to play him every day, especially at the expense of LeMahieu.

I don’t think it makes much sense for the Yanks to pay DJ that big of a salary just to use him as a part-time player. At this point in his career, he’s clearly a better player than Tulo and deserves the opportunity to get consistent at-bats.

I know Aaron Boone said they are going to rotate guys around and give days off so LeMahieu can get more playing time, but the only guy in the infield who should be getting days off is Tulo. Both Miguel Andujar and Torres are entering their second big league seasons and considering how great they are offensively they need to be in the lineup at all times. The same goes for 1B Luke Voit if he can pick up where he left off last season.

I know there are concerns defensively with the corner infielders, but it’s not a given that LeMahieu is going to be as surehanded at first and third as he is at second base. If he struggles to adapt at those positions this spring there’s really no reason to play him over Miggy or Voit. His playing time is already projected to take a big hit so if it turns out that he’s not as versatile a player as the Yankees hoped he’d be he’ll basically become a full-time bench player.

If that happens then it begs the questions to ask what was the point of signing him to such a deal in the first place? I know the Yankee front office must be confident in his ability to be a super utility player but if they’re wrong this will be looked at as one of the more puzzling moves they’ve made in recent memory.

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