Yankees: 3 integral players whose contracts expire after this season

Yankees whose contracts expire after 2020 – No. 1: DJ LeMahieu

DJ LeMahieu was a pleasant surprise for the Yankees in 2019. Few people realized just how good he is, or if they were familiar with his stats, some might have written them off because of his years playing in Coors Field.

All LeMahieu did last year was earn an All-Star bid, win the Silver Slugger, and come in fourth in the MVP voting. He hit .327, clobbered 26 home runs, scored 109 times, and drove in 102.

The problem is if he matches or exceeds those numbers, he may play himself right out of the Yankees’ budget. He’s set to make a bargain $12 million this year but would be set up for a much larger payday with another big year under his belt.

One thing that might depress his value is he will be 32 going into 2021. He might not get as long or as lucrative of a deal, but he’ll still probably get offers around $20 million even if the length may not cover more than a few seasons.

The Yankees would be smart to try to extend LeMahieu as soon as possible. Roll the dice a little bit on a guy has played enough to get at least 580 plate appearances for six straight seasons. He’s hit over .300 in four of his last five seasons and is an excellent table-setter for the bashers behind him in the lineup.

The immediate future of baseball is cloudy at best right now. It isn’t even certain games will be played in 2020. If and how the games play out may drastically affect the financials of the game and might dictate how the next offseason unfolds.

The New York Yankees will have some decisions to make on their own free agents, but hopefully, they find a way to bring back LeMhieu.