Yankees finalizing deal with DJ LeMahieu, per report

10:10 a.m. EST update: Jeff Passan of ESPN reports LeMahieu’s agreement is a six-year, $90 million contract.

The New York Yankees and DJ LeMahieu got to work early, finalizing a new contract before the sun rose on Friday morning.

MLB.com’s Jon Morosi was first to report negotiations were in the final stages. Additional terms were not disclosed, though the deal is expected to span several years.

Prior to joining the Yankees in 2019, LeMahieu spent eight years in the National League, slugging .298/.350/.406. His numbers soared even more once he landed in the Bronx.

At the age of 33, LeMahieu made the All-Star team, won a Silver Slugger award, and finished fourth in MVP voting. He had an equally impressive season in 2020, winning a Silver Slugger award and finishing third in the MVP race. His .364/.421/.590 slash line would have made him a shoo-in for the All-Star team if the event wasn’t canceled due to COVID-19.

In two years since joining the Yankees, LeMahieu has hit .336/.386/.536 with 129 RBI on 268 hits, including 36 home runs. He has shown incredible vision at the plate with a 12.7 percent strikeout rate and 7.3 percent walk clip. The 32-year-old has tallied 19.0 career fWAR, including 7.9 in his last 195 games. Proportionally, that checks in as an incredible rate of 42 percent of his career fWAR in just 17 percent of games.

In 2020, LeMahieu finished in the top three percent in baseball in terms of strikeout and whiff rates, as well as expected batting average. His exit velocity, hard-hit rate, and xwOBA all checked in inside the top 20 percent.

The LSU product mainly aligned as second baseman while also seeing time at third and first.

New York’s ability to bring back LeMahieu is a major success. While he is aging, he has shown no signs of slowing down. After declining the Yankees’ qualifying offer, LeMahieu was reportedly in talks with several teams on multi-year deals, including divisional rival Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.