I’ve personally been trying to decompress from the insanely disappointing season that ended only a week ago, but apparently I’m the only one. Almost immediately, Twitter GM’s went to work talking about what needs to be done next year. The opinions are plentiful, some realistic, others not so much but everyone has one.
The Luke Voit Trade
One opinion I’ve been been seeing rather often and one that my own dad and brother keep trying to convince me of, is this idea of trading Luke Voit and moving DJ LeMahieu to first base. Now, let me just say that I am not opposed to trading Luke Voit if the right deal came along, but moving DJ to first base full time seems like a waste of talent. I know that first base isn’t an easy position, that’s not what I’m saying, so calm down. What I am saying is that DJ is too good at what he does in the middle infield to slide over to first base full time.
A Pattern
DJ LeMahieu is a three time gold glove winner. He also won the Wilson defensive player of the year twice. Can you guess what position he was playing? You guessed it, second base. If you know anything about patterns you can easily answer my next big question. What position did DJ play in his three all star games? Yup, second base is the answer again.
The Answer is NO
The Yankees, if they choose to re-sign DJ, have an elite second baseman. A second baseman who has proven his worth over and over and over again. Yes, DJ can play first base but let’s be honest, the dude can play anywhere you put him. But this isn’t a question of can he play, it’s a question of should he play. You might not agree with me but the answer is no and the numbers prove it.
What comes next
You are all going to ask me “well what WOULD you do?” I don’t have an answer yet. I haven’t really gotten over the ALDS yet, so I haven’t been thinking too hard about what’s to come. I have a few things I’m confident about: what will happen to Tanaka and Gary, what starting pitching will or won’t return, but I’ll save those for another article another time. What IĀ do know is I don’t see an infield without DJ but I also don’t see an infield with DJ at first. I have to think harder about what that means for next season.Ā I’ll get back to you, I promise.
