Yankees Resign DJ LeMahieu

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It was announced on Friday, that the New York Yankees have resigned star second basemen DJ LeMahieu, who will turn 33 years old in July. The club signed LeMahieu to a 90 Million Dollar Deal over 6 Years, which was considered a bargain for the Yankees. LeMahieu will only be paid an Average Annual Value of 15 Million Dollars which seems like an underpay for the Yankees. LeMahieu is a star that has been a MVP candidate over the last two seasons in New York, and has been fabulous for the club. LeMahieu will continue to produce at a high level over the next few seasons going forward.
What This Means For The Yankees

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The New York Yankees are a very solid team that still needs a lot of work this offseason beyond this recent move to bring back their star second basemen in LeMahieu. The Yankees lineup is elite and their bullpen is still very solid. Howver, the Yankees rotation is still shaky and they need more Starting Pitching despite their recent acquisition of two time Cy Young Award Winner Corey Kluber, who has fell off over the last two seasons. Kluber is a bounce back candidate in 2021, that has the potential to dominate and return to his 2017 Cy Young season and 2018 as well.
Overall, the Yankees are a great team in baseball and argubly a top five team in baseball, and the best team in the American League (I have them second, behind the White Sox barely). The Yankees are clearly the favorite in the American League East to win the division and to take it back from the Rays after losing it in 2020 in the short season. The Yankees are coming back in 2021 with vengeance after failing to make it to World Series for four straight seasons, despite making the playoffs to at least the ALDS in all four of those seasons.
What This Means For The Rest Of Baseball

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This trade will have a huge effect on the rest of baseball, including many teams and players all around the game.
First, the Players including DJ LeMahieu, who got severly underpaid. LeMahieu deserved much more money about 100 Million Dollars, and didn't get enough. This showed that the Free Agent Market this offseason has taken a hit due to the pandemic and players have and will get underpaid going forward. This was true for LeMahieu, and will be the same for other top Free Agents including Bauer, Realmuto, and Springer.
Next, the AL East (Blue Jays and Rays). The Yankees are the best team in their division and it is now obvious. Their roster is the best in the division and although the division definitely still is wide open, the Yankees are the frontrunner to win the division and they are the team to beat in the division. The Blue Jays are hungry and a young team that is ready to produce, and also might add by signing a star player like Ozuna, Realmuto, Bauer, or Springer this offseason. The Rays have gotten worse after the trade of Blake Snell and the loss of Free Agent Charlie Morton.
Finally, the rest of the teams in baseball. Many teams have lost key players this offseason and the LeMahieu signing was a let down for many teams including the Dodgers and Blue Jays, among others too. This signing has effected many teams and we will see many Free Agent sign this offseason going forward. This has had a large effect on the Dodgers, as they were a team that was looking to sign LeMahieu and add to their already ridiclous roster. The Mets also were looking at LeMahieu and Liam Hendriks as well, and will likely now move to other players on the market like George Springer (as will the Blue Jays)
The DJ LeMahieu signing was a huge deal and it will be interesting to see how this effects the game of baseball from the Yankees to the Blue Jays to the rest of the game. For more, check out other articles on my website and make sure to check out other pages on my website and my Instagram account, @marksportsmlb