From an on-field performance standpoint, the Yankees designating DJ LeMahieu for assignment Wednesday had become inevitable.
But for the captain who knew LeMahieu better than anyone else in the clubhouse, and was around for his best moments in pinstripes, the transaction carried some more weight than just the $22 million the Yankees decided to eat to let the veteran infielder go.
“It wasn’t great, especially what DJ’s meant to this team and what he’s meant to me, also, as a player,” Aaron Judge said before Thursday’s game at Yankee Stadium, where he delivered the walk-off sacrifice fly in a 6-5 win over the Mariners in 10 innings. “I’ve hit behind him for so many years. A lot of those playoff runs we went on from ’19 on, we’re not getting there without DJ. Kind of seeing how this played out, it’s tough. But I’m wishing him the best. He’s meant a lot to this team, a lot to us in this clubhouse, the fan base.”
LeMahieu’s past few years were derailed by a series of injuries, sapping the former two-time batting champion of his production and robbing him of the opportunity to take the field on a daily basis like he had for most of his career. It ultimately led to his departure, too, as moving back to third base became too much of a physical challenge and tied the Yankees’ hands from a roster perspective.
Through it all, the soon-to-be 37-year-old was soft-spoken, but he made it known this spring just how much it was killing him to not be able to be out there with his teammates as his body betrayed him.
Judge could sense it, too.
“Baseball is DJ’s life,” Judge said. “That’s all he talked about, that’s all he wanted to talk about, that’s all he knew. All the way back from his days playing at LSU, he’s a gamer. He wore it on his jersey. The amount of times I’d see him come in here and his jersey’s completely dirty from diving, sliding all over the field.
“The injuries definitely bothered him, just because he wanted to be out there and he wanted to perform. He wanted to be there for the team, be there for all of us. When he couldn’t physically do that, that definitely hurt him. Because he cared about the team. He hated missing games, hated not being there for us. It’s just tough how it ended, but we’re definitely going to miss him here.”
Judge is the longest-tenured Yankee on the active roster, making his debut in 2016.
Giancarlo Stanton arrived before the 2018 season and Jonathan Loáisiga came up that year, too.
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Then there was LeMahieu, who up until Wednesday was the fourth-longest tenured Yankee after signing with them ahead of the 2019 campaign.
In his first two years in The Bronx, LeMahieu finished fourth and third, respectively, in AL MVP voting.
He hit an epic, game-tying, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning in Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS against the Astros, and though the Yankees still lost that game in the bottom of the frame to end their season, Judge said Thursday the moment was “not forgotten.”
Though the past few years of injuries overshadowed what had been a strong start to LeMahieu’s tenure here, his now former teammates valued what he brought on a daily basis off the field, too.
“He did anything the team asked him, showed up every single day ready to play,” Judge said. “I know he battled through some injuries — I even go back to 2019, I think he had a groin injury going on early in the year and he told the team, ‘I’m not going on the IL. I got to be out there. Even if it’s 60 percent, I’m going to battle through it and play.’ Just seeing that type of commitment to the team, it motivates me to go out there and play every day as much as I can. He just was a good example.”
And yet, the daily grind of the baseball season continues.
By Thursday, LeMahieu was officially released as he went unclaimed on waivers with no team wanting to be on the hook for the $22 million through next year when they now can sign him for the major league minimum.
Inside the Yankees clubhouse, LeMahieu’s longtime locker now belongs to Jorbit Vivas, who was called up from Triple-A on Wednesday to fill his roster spot.
Soon enough, somebody may take his No. 26.
“It’s definitely going to be different,” Judge said. “But we got to keep moving forward.”