3 teams DJ LeMahieu absolutely cannot sign with if he leaves Yankees

2. Chicago White Sox

This isn’t entirely likely, but the Sox could get creative to out-bid the Yankees.

This isn’t likely, but it would go a long way in undermining the Yankees in the American League. The Chicago White Sox have shown the ability to get creative, building the current roster through trades, international signings and shrewd drafting. So how can we rule out this scenario?

Nick Madrigal is Chicago’s starting second baseman at the moment. He’s one of the top prospects in baseball and further proved that with his debut 2020 season. He slashed .340/.376/.369 across 29 games but only had three extra-base hits (all were doubles). Nonetheless, aside from his four errors at second base, it was largely an impressive debut.

But what if general manager Rick Hahn decides to turn around and trade Madrigal to address another roster need? That’ll create a void at second base and he can swoop in, snag LeMahieu, and bolster one of the best lineups in Major League Baseball. Imagine DJ atop that lineup? Then we’d have to hope we never face the White Sox in the playoffs.

It’s not like Chicago doesn’t have room financially, either. They rank 14th in the league in terms of payroll heading into 2021 and can afford to splurge a bit given a number of team-friendly deals on the books right now (Luis Robert, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Eloy Jimenez).

We’re not overly worried about this, but we simply cannot rule it out.