DJ LeMahieu’s IL stint could mark the end of his Yankees career

Neil Young once said "it’s better to burn out than it is to rust," and that could perhaps apply to DJ LeMahieu's current situation with the New York Yankees.

With two years and $30 million left on the six-year, $90 million contract LeMahieu signed in January of 2021, the Yankees could have an expensive DFA situation on their hands this offseason.

If any other team is willing to try smoking the last few puffs out of the cigar butt of LeMahieu’s career, the Yankees could eat a chunk of that salary to at least get some relief, but this is not the same player who flirted with a .400 batting average and ended up hitting .364 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, posting the highest regular season batting average since Joe Mauer hit .365 in 2009.

Since then, he’s dealt with a series of nagging injuries. All of his 2021-2024 seasons were compromised due to various ailments, with toe/foot issues plaguing him the most.

After he missed New York’s first 55 games this year because of a fracture in his right foot that healed slowly, LeMahieu is back on the IL with a right hip impingement that manager Aaron Boone said might end his season. That would keep him off the postseason roster yet again.

Since signing that contract extension, LeMahieu has been a shadow of his former self, averaging only 120 games per season and slashing .252/.336/.362 for a .698 OPS, which is 5% below the MLB average over that stretch.

He’s also averaged only 10 home runs and 43 RBI per season since 2021, and hit only two homers with 26 RBI this year. That’s a sharp drop-off from a career-high 26 home runs and 102 RBI in his first season with New York in 2019, when he posted a 5.6 bWAR. His 2024 OPS+ is 50, or 50% below league average.

It’s been a steep decline at the age of 36 for a gamer who won two batting titles, two Silver Sluggers, and was named to three All-Star teams in the first 10 years of his career. Apart from winning a Gold Glove as a utility infielder in 2022, his $15 million AAV contract extension has essentially been a bust.

His injury has also opened the door for Yankees top prospect Jasson Domínguez, and given how ready The Martian appears for his second shot at The Show, that might just mean the door is closing on LeMahieu’s Yankees tenure.

It's sad to say, but there's no place for LeMahieu on this team beyond 2024 if this is how he's going to perform as injuries and his age catches up to him. Yankees fans might've seen the last of The Machine last week.