Yanks’ newcomer LeMahieu will fill plenty of roles
DJ LeMahieu is putting away his mittens and packing more mitts. A star second baseman for Colorado, LeMahieu is set to join a crowded New York Yankees infield.
“I was told to bring a lot of gloves,” he said Wednesday on a conference call.
That’s fine with LeMahieu, who became a free agent after the season and got a $24 million, two-year contract with the Yankees.
LeMahieu was a three-time Gold Glover for the Rockies and hasn’t played anywhere else the last four seasons. He has made 24 starts at third base in past years and also dabbled at first base and shortstop.
LeMahieu said he’s “pretty comfortable playing multiple positions.”
New York has plenty of infielders — and, the Yankees being the Yankees, no one is willing to completely rule them out of making a late play for All-Star free agent Manny Machado.
Second baseman Gleyber Torres and third baseman Miguel Andujar were among the top rookies in the majors last year. Shortstop Didi Gregorius could return this summer after offseason Tommy John surgery.
Jed Lowrie would rather talk about wine than whine. The infielder visited Citi Field after finalizing a $20 million, two-year contract with the New York Mets, likely less money and a shorter term than he would have gotten before the free-agent market for solidbut-less-than-stellar veterans buckled a year ago.
“I think that argument could be made,” he said. “But you deal in reality, and so I’m excited to be a Met.”
A switch-hitter who turns 35 in April, Lowrie and is coming off his first All-Star appearance. In his 11th major league season, Lowrie set career highs last year for Oakland with 23 homers, 99 RBIs, 78 walks and 128 strikeouts, hitting .267.
“He’s a big wine connoisseur. He gets better with age like many of the wines that he collects,” said new Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, Lowrie’s former agent.
Lowrie, wife Milessa, daughter Saige and son Miles likely will live in New York City, possibly in Brooklyn. They have homes in Houston and his hometown of Salem, Oregon, where he keeps his wine collection of several hundred bottles.
“Mostly reds. I’ve got California. I’ve got a lot of good Oregon pinot noir,” he said. “Got some whites for my wife. Not a lot — some French.”
Lowrie spent the last three years as a second baseman but played all around the infield before that. Van Wagenen plans for him to back up 36-year-old second baseman Robinson Cano, 23-year-old shortstop Amed Rosario and third baseman Todd Frazier, who turns 33 next month. Rookie Peter Alonso, Frazier, J.D. Davis and Dominic Smith are possibilities at first.
“We have a veteran club and we want to make sure that we’re not overtaxing the players that we have,” Van Wagenen said. “We don’t want to feel like anybody has the need to play 162 games, but if wecan manage the workload to get the maximum performance out of each guy, there’s more than enough playing to play time to go around.”
Royals pitcher Eric Skoglund was suspended for the season’s first 80 games after testing positive for two performance-enhancing substances. The commissioner’s office said the positive tests were for selective androgen receptor modulators S-22 (Ostarine) and LGD-4033 (Ligandrol). Skoglund was 1-6 with a 5.14 ERA last season. ... Marty Brennaman, the Reds playby-play announcer said that he’ll retire after the 2019 season, his 46th in Cincinnati.