4 Yankees who need to live up to their contracts in 2022

Don’t get us wrong — this is not a “these players don’t deserve this money!” article. They all very much earned what they’re making. However … that doesn’t meant the New York Yankees didn’t overpay, or that this particular group has lived up to the billing.

After all, this is the Yankees’ payroll. It’s going to be bloated. You see what happens every year Giancarlo Stanton or Gerrit Cole have a rough stretch. The Payroll Police enter the fold and claim these players aren’t pulling their weight and that their contracts are busts. Not quite!

But in the case of these players, they’re so integral to the team’s success that they have to maintain a semblance of consistency/get back to where they once were … which kind of means they have to live up to their end of the bargain in some capacity.

Another reason for that verbiage is because these players once upon a time delivered in a way that suggested they were on the path to stardom or already there. And then the last few seasons took a bit of a toll and fans witnessed the regression, which contributed to a team-wide downturn.

This also isn’t a forum to be harsh — it’s to acknowledge how important these players are and what they’re capable of at the highest level on the sport’s best franchise.

Let’s get back to our old ways fellas, eh? Yankees fans are dying for this experiment to come full circle with a championship and it probably can’t happen if more than one of these players is falling short of expectations.

These four Yankees need to live up to their contracts in 2022.

4. Luis Severino

To no fault of his own (well, aside from maybe not communicating his ailments effectively?), Luis Severino’s last three years have been derailed by injuries. He’s pitched in 18 regular-season innings since 2019 and has added another 5.2 in the playoffs. This was supposed to be the Yankees’ next ace before Gerrit Cole’s arrival.

Unfortunately, all of this has occurred in the midst of the four-year, $40 million contract extension the Yankees so shrewdly signed him to before the start of 2019. He’s been the missing rotation piece for the last two years, too.

In 2022, he’ll be making $11.5 million and will be due for a $15 million team option (with a $2.75 million buyout) in 2023. Sevy’s Cy Young-caliber campaigns in 2017 and 2018 pretty much covered his escalating expenses, but the team really needs him to be a part-time feared arm atop the rotation (because we know he probably won’t be able to handle a full starter’s workload after missing so much time).

Severino supporting Cole was the plan, and it’s somehow turned into a dream. We need this back in reality.

3. DJ LeMahieu

Without question, DJ LeMahieu was the Yankees’ MVP in 2019 and 2020, rightfully earning a six-year, $90 million contract before the start of 2021. In those two seasons with New York, LeMahieu was a Silver Slugger and top-four MVP finisher. Incredible!

But then came this past season when he apparently battled a core muscle injury for most of the campaign (which was also affected by Rob Manfred removing the juiced ball). LeMahieu saw a considerable dip in his power numbers and batted a pedestrian .268, which is nowhere close to his career average of .300.

After slugging between .518 and .590 across 195 games, that number dipped to .362 across 150 in 2021. After hitting 36 home runs in his first 195 games with the Yankees, he hit just 10 last year. Concerning? A bit … but LeMahieu has never really hit for power throughout his career. His claim to fame was his contact rate and ability to hit the ball to all fields.

Fans don’t expect him to be the team MVP again and again … but can we meet somewhere in the middle? Maybe a .290-.300 average with 50+ extra-base hits? Keep the charge going at the top of the lineup?

Can’t have a below-average 97 OPS+ at the top of the lineup. LeMahieu proved he was the engine that helped the Yankees offense chug along with this 2019 and 2020 performances … but it became more evident after his 2021 regression.

1. Aaron Hicks

Good for Aaron Hicks for securing the bag, but we’ll forever be asking Brian Cashman the simple question of “Why?”.

Before the 2019 season, the veteran outfielder was given a seven-year, $70 million extension and then proceeded to play in just 145 of a possible 384 games. But that’s nothing new. He’s battled injury issues throughout his career, dating back to his MLB debut in 2013.

Nonetheless, he was rewarded swiftly after a career year. Not to mention, Hicks was one of the few players the Yankees broke their “policy” for when they negotiated with him before he was even a free agent. How did one year of playing in a career-high 137 games and soaring past his career highs in runs scored, homers, RBI and walks convince Cashman this was a prudent investment for his age-30-35 seasons? We don’t know.

What we do know, however, is that when Hicks is hitting effectively from both sides of the plate, working walks like a beast, ripping liners over the short porch, and covering adequate ground in center, the Yankees are that much better.

Just look at last year when the Yankees were dying for left-handed at-bats and relied on Hicks to deliver toward the top of the lineup. He hit .194 with a .627 OPS and the offense cratered. Then it was Brett Gardner’s turn to bat in the three-hole. Please, no more of this.

Hicks will (hopefully) be at full strength when the 2022 campaign opens, and all the Yankees need him to do is hit ~.230 with a ~.340 on-base percentage and ~18 homers. It’ll make all the difference. And you’ll know it when you see it.

4 Yankees who don’t deserve another season in 2022

These four New York Yankees players do not deserve another chance to play for the Bronx Bombers and put on the pinstripes in 2022.