Yanks Go Yard
FanSided

Constructing the perfect Yankees lineup for 2021 season

By Adam Weinrib

Luke Voit #59 of the New York Yankees celebrates with Gary Sanchez #24 after hitting his second 3-run home run of the game in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 11, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Luke Voit #59 of the New York Yankees celebrates with Gary Sanchez #24 after hitting his second 3-run home run of the game in the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on September 11, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 9
Next

This Yankees lineup would maximize the offense in 2021.

The New York Yankees have a lineup as objectively strong as their current rotation is weak.

Any supposed “holes” in the batting order are either failures of our own perception (“Gary always strikes out! Stanton always strikes out! Two of the top 20 sluggers in baseball are useless!”) or are directly related to a certain free agent who, we must admit, needs to come back to make this lineup whole again.

But that’s the best part about creating an “ideal” lineup, right? You can make absolutely certain that the Yankees retain the people who matter most because you call the shots.

In creating the ideal Yankees lineup for 2021, we’re not going to take any wild swings. Sure, the team would probably be better with 2003 Albert Pujols in the Luke Voit spot, but we’re not bending time and space to redefine “ideal” here. We’re simply building out the best roster from the realistic names we have at our disposal.

Before you know it, there’ll be a pinstriped batter digging his toe into the box. On Opening Day, this is how we envision things, if we ran the world.

Yankees
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees in action against the Miami Marlins at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2020 in New York City. The Marlins defeated the Yankees 4-3 in ten innings and clinched a playoff spot. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Leading Off: DJ LeMahieu, 2B

The Yankees retain DJ LeMahieu to kick off our perfect 2021 lineup.

It wouldn’t be perfection without DJ LeMahieu, would it?

In an ideal world, the Yankees present LeMahieu with a four-year, $80 million contract that satifies all parties, with some form of a fifth-year option baked in (if only to make the Twitter detractors grumble about what an awful thing committing to the American League MVP finalist would be). He then slides into the leadoff spot for the next four seasons in 160 out of a possible 162 regular season games, and starts every postseason contest with his trademark doggedness.

LeMahieu isn’t a speed demon, of course, but he’s an ideal table-setter, putting bat on ball at a rate that seems statistically impossible for Yankees fans of a certain generation.

Any version of the Yankees offense that maximizes its effectiveness in 2021 doubtlessly includes LeMahieu atop it. End of story.

Home/Yankees News