Yankees Ridiculed for This $90M Mistake as Part of 'All-Overpaid Team'
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Kicking the New York Yankees while they're down is a favorite pastime for the fans of 29 other Major League Baseball teams.
Though they got a win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, August has been an embarrassing month for the Yankees to this point. But there have been things to lament all season, even before this latest slide began in earnest a couple of weeks ago.
There was a long stretch this season when the Yankees couldn't figure out their infield, and that stemmed from the lack of a true third baseman, combined with ex-Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu's contract.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees reacts after scoring on a 2-RBI single hit by Oswaldo Cabrera #95 during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay...
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: DJ LeMahieu #26 of the New York Yankees reacts after scoring on a 2-RBI single hit by Oswaldo Cabrera #95 during the sixth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on May 13, 2023 in the Bronx borough of New York City. MoreLeMahieu was designated for assignment over a month ago, but Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller was still rubbing salt in the wound Tuesday.
Miller concocted an "All-Overpaid Team" for Major League Baseball this season, and he named LeMahieu as the top second baseman on his list.
"We'll say this much in LeMahieu's defense: He was considerably more productive in 2025 than in 2024, when he posted a .527 OPS in 67 games between both starting and finishing the season on the IL," Miller wrote.
"But improving from a .527 OPS to a .674 OPS wasn't enough to save LeMahieu's job once it became clear Jazz Chisholm Jr. needed to move from third base back to second base. The Yankees released LeMahieu a few days after that move, and more than a month later, still no one has felt compelled to give the 37-year-old another shot."
LeMahieu's time in New York was a confounding mixed bag. He was great from 2019 to 2021, but his six-year, $90 million extension was an abject disaster, as New York is still on the hook for his $15 million salary next year.
Do the Yankees have bigger fish to fry than worrying about overpaying LeMahieu all these years later? Of course. But if this season ends poorly, it will be just one more impediment as they try to get off the mat.
More MLB: Red Sox's Roman Anthony Matches Ted Williams' 86-Year-Old Franchise Record
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