The New York Yankees 36-year-old veteran infielder D.J. LeMahieu was reportedly quite disgruntled after manager Aaron Boon on Tuesday told him that, going forward, he would be riding the bench rather than starting on a daily basis, as he has done since returning from the injured list and making his 2025 debut on May 12.
But LeMahieu’s benching was only the beginning, compared to the announcement the Yankees handed down on Wednesday afternoon, just hours ahead of their game against the visiting Seattle Mariners. The game sees the Bronx Bombers going for their third win in a row after a six game losing streak that had seen them fall from first place to three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays.
LeMahieu, a Chicago Cubs second-round draft pick in 2009, is a three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and two-time batting champion â winning the National League crown with the Colorado Rockies in 2016, hitting .348, and the American League title with a .364 average in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, his second year with the Yankees.
Yankees Announce LeMahieu DFA
The LSU product also led the AL in on-base percentage (.421), OPS (1.011) and WAR (3.0) in that bizarre, 60-game season.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. moves from third base to his more natural position on the right side of the infield with LeMahieu’s benching â and on Wednesday the Yankees made the switch apparently permanent, with their stunning announcement that the club had designated LeMahieu for assignment.
Under MLB rules, the DFA announcement immediately removes LeMahieu from the Yankees’ 40-man roster. The club now has seven days to either work out a trade to send the 15-year-veteran to another team, or place him on waivers where he could be claimed by any of the 29 other MLB clubs.
If the Yankees do not trade LeMahieu, and no other organization claims him off the waiver wire, the player can choose to accept an assignment to the minor leagues, if the team chooses to offer him that option, or â because LeMahieu has more than five years of MLB service time â declare himself a free agent.
In the fifth season of a six-year, $90 million contract, the Yankees still owe LeMahieu the remainder of his $15 million salary for this season â estimated at about $7 million â as well as his full $15 million paycheck for 2026.
But if a team claims LeMahieu off of waivers, or agrees to trade for him, the Yankees would be freed from at least part of the $22 million obligation.
LeMahieu Often Off the Field Due to Injury
Plagued by injuries, LeMahieu played only 112 of the Yankees’ 253 regular season games from the start of 2024 until his DFA on Wednesday. Nor had he appeared in any of the team’s 24 postseason games since 2020.
He struggled at the plate in 45 games this season, with a .674 OPS and just two home runs in 142 plate appearances.
Chisholm Jr., by contrast and despite several injuries of his own, has exploded into one of the Yankees’ hottest hitters â especially over the past two weeks when he has been one of dangerously few bright spots in a limping Yankees batting lineup. His hot streak resulted in Chisholm Jr.’s second career All-Star selection.
In his last 11 games over 14 days, Chisholm Jr. has blasted five home runs and three doubles with an OPS of 1.045.
The move comes as a special blow to LeMahieu who celebrates his 37th birthday on July 13.
With Chisholm moving to second, the Yankees are now said to be seeking to trade for a third baseman and may even, according to some reports, be eyeing former Boston Red Sox, now San Francisco Giants, superstar Rafael Devers.
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