Yankees: MLBTR predicts horrible free agency scenario for DJ LeMahieu

MLB Trade Rumors is predicting DJ LeMahieu to sign with a division rival. Please, no.

DJ LeMahieu potentially leaving the New York Yankees is hard enough for just about every fan to fathom, but the idea of him signing with a division rival is where we draw the line. That cannot happen under any circumstance.

MLBTradeRumors.com did its annual Top 50 Free Agent Predictions and had LeMahieu landing in the AL East … but not with who you’d expect.

The Tampa Bay Rays? They were one of the bidders for his services back in 2018 before the Yankees landed him. Nope. The Boston Red Sox? They have a clear need at second base and unloaded a ton of salary this past season. Wrong again!

It’s the Toronto Blue Jays. And man, that would be an absolute nightmare.

First of all, if the Yankees don’t out-bid the Canadian team to the tune of four years and $68 million, then the fan base would riot. Not many are asking for much from the front office this offseason, but if you can’t pay an average of $17 million per season for the next four years of prime DJ LeMahieu, then you’ll never be forgiven.

Not only that, but the Blue Jays are arguably the Yankees’ biggest threat for the next 5-10 years. They have an incredible young core and are built for the long haul assuming they make the proper free agency/trade additions over the next few offseasons.

But there are two problems with this.

1. Are the Blue Jays really going to spend this much money AND surrender a top draft pick for a very win-now move when they have issues with the bullpen and starting rotation? Maybe, but we’d argue that’s not exactly smart unless they’re prepared to make a number of colossal changes.
2. Does that mean Cavan Biggio is going to get traded or change positions? He’s versatile defensively, but he’s mostly played second base for his entire career. Is displacing him for someone entering his age-33 season the smartest move?

Look, we’re just trying to make ourselves feel better about this. Though the move would require some tinkering on the Jays’ end, there’s no doubt LeMahieu’s presence on this roster will elevate those around him. And moving Biggio to another position (or perhaps trading him for a pitcher) wouldn’t be the worst thing the front office could do.

At the end of the day, we’re just going to chalk this up to other media outlets trying to get Yankees fans to lose as much sleep as possible until the team makes a decision on LeMahieu. We won’t admit that it’s not working.

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