Yankees Rumors: NYY considered wild Gary Sanchez move if DJ LeMahieu left

The Yankees may have entertained the idea of letting Gary Sanchez go for JT Realmuto.

As far as we knew, the Yankees’ offseason consisted of waiting around for DJ LeMahieu to come to his conclusions before using the minimal leftover money to supplement the roster.

Apparently, though, the wheels churning below the surface for Brian Cashman might’ve been spinning a little more wildly than we thought.

The widely-acknowledged “Plan B” for LeMahieu was Francisco Lindor, who gummed up the Yankees’ works when he was traded to the Mets a week ago, sure to be extended in the coming weeks.

But according to Jayson Stark, New York might have had an entire file of Plan Bs, some of which would’ve done very little to solve the middle infield conundrum.

Snuck into a piece about JT Realmuto’s free agency and the Philadelphia Phillies, Stark noted that the Yankees had at least considered pursuing the All-Star catcher this offseason and ditching (gasp) Gary Sanchez if LeMahieu had taken his talents (and salary) elsewhere.

I’m sorry, what?

This reads like something a Yankees fan rolled over in the middle of the night to scrawl into the iPhone notes, not something that Cashman and Co. had actually mulled over in total sincerity.

But Realmuto and Sanchez have long been connected, all the way back to the crazy post-2018 rumors where it seemed like both names might be involved in a three-way trade sending Noah Syndergaard to the Bronx. Remember that?!

Based on the latest update, though, it seems like the Yankees have been somewhat infatuated with Realmuto for a while, who was once neck-and-neck with Sanchez for the honor of “Best Catcher in Baseball” before pulling away in recent years.

Personally? We’ll take LeMahieu and Sanchez. There’s a lot less dirty laundry there, and we aren’t left wondering what stopgap shortstops fit in under the team’s luxury tax limit.

But it is wild that this was apparently a 2020-21 consideration and not a 2018 notion. This really might’ve happened this week if LeMahieu’s negotiations had gone sour and Canadian flavored.

Bizarre. And likely incorrect. But tempting!

3 high-profile signings Yankees need to avoid this offseason

The New York Yankees have a ton of work cut out for them this offseason, but they need to avoid these three big-name players in free agency.