The Yankees “Plan B” if Manny Machado Signs Elsewhere

I see a lot of people jumping on this bandwagon finally, but I want to remind everyone that I said I wanted LeMahieu the day it was announced that Didi Gregorius needed Tommy John surgery. I stand by that today, and I will explain why here.

EDIT: Adding the original tweet stating my interest in LeMahieu

For some reason I just see the Yankees signing DJ LeMahieu this offseason. Call it a hunch.

— Greedy Pinstripes (@GreedyStripes) October 12, 2018

The entire league, the teams, the available free agents, and their fans are all sitting on their hands waiting on the decision from Manny Machado this winter. Very few infielders are going to sign before Machado does because the 26-year old will set the market for his respective position(s). The same can be said about teams and their seemingly unwillingness to spend money as they wait on the Machado decision, assuming they are in the running. Everything has come to a halt as we wait, but that doesn’t mean that the Yankees should be necessarily banking on Machado wearing #13 in pinstripes in a week or so. In fact, New York should have a Plan B or two already in the works just in case Manny decides to head to Philadelphia or Chicago, as I assume they already do. If they don’t… here is one laid out for them, as we all know Brian Cashman (or someone who has his ear) reads my posts.

The obvious need for the Yankees if Machado were to sign elsewhere would be middle infield. Didi Gregorius is on the disabled list to start the season while players like Ronald Torreyes are presumably getting their shot elsewhere after falling victim to the 40-man roster crunch in the Bronx. Thankfully, for the Yankees, second baseman Gleyber Torres can play either middle infield position and will likely start the season as New York’s starting shortstop on Opening Day 2019. Why do I feel so confident saying that? It’s simple, the free agent market for shortstops right now leaves much to be desired. Tim Beckham posted a -0.5 fWAR in 2018, Neil Walker is, well, Neil Walker, Alcides Escobar’s defense is suspect at best, Freddy Galvis has an on-base percentage under .300 in his career, and Adeiny Hechavarria doesn’t bring much of a bat with him to the table. Out of all of these options the most obvious one for New York is Hechavarria, he was on the team last season and even filled in late defensively for players like Miguel Andujar in the field. That all sounds great until you remember that there is a guy like DJ LeMahieu out there still on the free agent market.

Now, I know what you are thinking. Why would the Yankees need ANOTHER right-handed bat to add to their already right-handed heavy lineup? It doesn’t matter to LeMahieu what side of the pitching rubber you are throwing off of, he hits them both equally as well. Let’s take a look at his splits courtesy of Baseball Reference:

Platoon Splits

I	Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
	vs RHP	855		2753	2504	350	731	112	20	32	243	191	434	.292	.343	.391	.734
	vs LHP	450		1046	941	151	295	51	11	17	106	87	143	.313	.369	.445	.814
	vs RHP as RHB	855		2753	2504		731	112	20	32	243	191	434	.292	.343	.391	.734
	vs LHP as RHB	450		1046	941		295	51	11	17	106	87	143	.313	.369	.445	.814
	vs RH Starter	659	604	2612	2371	340	719	109	20	33	245	186	392	.303	.354	.408	.762
	vs LH Starter	296	278	1187	1074	161	307	54	11	16	104	92	185	.286	.342	.401	.743

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Mix in these splits with a career .350 OBP, power to all fields including an ability to take advantage of that short porch in right field inside Yankee Stadium, an NL Gold Glove at second base in 2014, 2017 and 2018 as well as an NL Fielding Bible Award in 2018 and LeMahieu seems like a great fit with the Yankees. DJ allows you to futureproof your team in case Didi Gregorius isn’t resigned after 2019 and it allows you to slowly work back the injured Yankees shortstop this season as he returns from Tommy John surgery.

This allows the Yankees to look elsewhere, Bryce Harper please and thank you, while still having a pretty damn good infield offensively and defensively speaking (with the assumption that Andujar will improve, because statistically he almost HAS to improve). New York could also look at adding an assumed upgrade at first base in Wilmer Flores as well, giving the Yankees some consistent pop and serviceable defense at the first base position.

Here would be my presumed lineup with LeMahieu at second base (with and without Bryce Harper).

Aaron Hicks

Aaron Judge

Giancarlo Stanton

Miguel Andujar

Gary Sanchez

DJ LaMahieu

Gleyber Torres

Luke Voit/Greg Bird/ Wilmer Flores

Brett Gardner

Aaron Hicks

Aaron Judge

Bryce Harper

Giancarlo Stanton

Miguel Andujar

Gary Sanchez

DJ LaMahieu

Gleyber Torres

Luke Voit/Greg Bird/Wilmer Flores

I mean, those are some pretty damn impressive lineups if you ask me. But, that’s only if you ask me.