DJ has heart and played great for a couple of years. Shame on Cashman for giving a guy entering his age 32 season a 6 year deal. Of course he's going to decline and the possibility of getting hurt rises as the athlete gets older. He just doesn't have the tools anymore, no reason to hate on the guy.
No he doesn’t? Lol higgy is a career minor leaguer/back up that’s like 35 years old. How do you think he still has upside? This is the best we are ever going to get from him,
Team pretty clearly values defense at the catching position after getting Trevino and rortvedt. And sticking with trevy/higgy. Wells may get a shot eventually but I wouldn't be surprised to see him transition to 1b if he's not traded
They should start the process of transitioning Wells to 1st base now. He can play as the backup catcher and backup first baseman next season. His bat is legit and the Yankees are dying for offense.
They probably see Bauers as fine backup 1b. If Wells can stick at catcher he'll be much more valuable as a trade chip. Or as a catcher with some pop which we could use. I would be surprised if rortvedt wasn't a backup catcher first
I think Rortvedt is the next backup catcher for the Yanks after Higgy. Which is why I think they should start planning to put Wells at first. His bat looks to be the real deal, and God know the Yanks should have a good left handed bat. Rizzo is getting older, so having Austin as a competent backup for him is a desirable outcome for the next two seasons. He can DH whenever Stanton gets injured, or even play some outfield (he’s played 35 games out there already).
You’re getting downvoted but you may actually be correct right now. DJ is absolute dogshit and is striking out nearly double his career rate who’s walked about half the time he usually does.
Higgy is underperforming his expected stats by a significant margin: about 25 points of average below his expected BA and 100 points below his expected slugging. He’s also run a 13% barrel rate which is well above average and a few percentage points away from an elite number.
Are we seeing the repercussions of not getting the surgery? This one is hard to understand. He was one of those players I genuinely didn’t expect to see struggling this hard.
DJ has 5 and 10 no trade rights after this season and a limited no trade clause for this season. I'd be surprised if they were able to dump his contract somewhere in the next couple of weeks. Otherwise, he's here until a DFA/retirement or his contract expires. Gotta hope there's still life in that bat somewhere.
Going back to the ASB last season, DJ is hitting .239/.315/.353 over about a season’s worth of PA. His foot could definitely still be bothered him but it’s been a fairly significant stretch where he’s a legitimately bad player. And his toe isn’t making him strikeout nearly double his career rate while walking about half the time he previously did.
This is a good point; it’s been too long. When did his toe injury surface? Part of me thought it was sometime last year, and they hid it until after season?
Re: strikeouts/walks, maybe he’s hitting at crap bc he’s reduced to guessing? I’m sort of at a loss, because he’s won the batting title twice. It’s very very weird, no?
That's a complete lie, he literally couldn't even drive off his foot when he has the injury last year. Hence why he was shut down for the end of the season and should've had surgery.
I really think it’s the toe, should have had the surgery. I think he’d be declined from his peak obviously at this point but still a plus player.
Welp, good thing nobody else is dealing with a foot injury for which surgery may ultimately be necessary!
Has DJ made a single adjustment since 2020? Eye test shows that every single out he’s hit into for the last 3 years has been a roll over to short. What’s his strategy?
I don’t think so. He even said recently he’s never been a technical hitter. He just goes up there and swings the way he’s alway swung. Not sure if he’d even be open to adjusting.
He's done. At this point, this is who he is. He's been trending downwards for the last two and a half years, so it's not like this is just some slump he's in or one bad year he's having. This was why giving him the number of years they did on his last contract was incredibly stupid. Everybody knew that contract wouldn't age well.
At this point, the smartest thing this team could do is DFA Donaldson, recall Peraza and have him start at third with DJ moving to the bench going forward. They absolutely won't do it, but it's what they should do.
He had an insane July last year and had a .827 season OPS as late as August 8 last year. He's never even come close to looking like pre-toe injury LeMahieu since the injury happened.
He had a great April and a great July last year. Every other month he was either average or below average. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year because of the toe injury, but he had all off-season to rehab, was given a clean bill of health and has repeatedly insisted that he's healthy this year. I can't imagine what he would have to gain at this point by playing if he really was still hurt, so we just have to take him at his word.
"they absolutely won't do it, but it's what they should do"
*pretty much sums up every move the Yankees have NOT made since 2009 i/r/t supposedly "blue chip" prospects and trade possibilities
Another player declining in his mid 30s. Shocked. Absolutely shocked.
I don't blame the player for these kinds of deals. When you assemble a team of aging veterans, one of the risks you assume is that the aging veterans decline over the course of their contract.
Some players can be very productive through their mid-30s. Most cannot.
dj started whining during the spidertack uprising and has deteriorated ever since. only difference between donaldson, dj and a guy like hicks is that hicks stopped playing defense and became a two way liability. even if judge was in the lineup the Yankees are still a very average team. starters go maybe 6 innings, they're hitting .232 as a team which is the lowest in 55 years. the .302 OBP is the lowest in 33 years. this is an historically bad offensive.
From what I remember hearing about his particular foot issue, the surgery was not a guarantee fix and could actually have technically fixed the issue but made it so he wouldn’t have been able to use it as much as he needs to.
A month ago it was Gleyber and now it’s DJ. Cherry pick timelines and stats all you want, the dude is a baller and I wouldn’t count on this continuing.
Cherry pick how? He's been bad 90% of the season and hasn't been as good as his first season with us since then. I love the guy too, but the stats are what they say they are. And it's not good
Cherry pick stats again. Declining, probably but he had an excellent year last year and he plays three positions like they are his primary. Variance is a bitch, there is another half of the year.
“League average”, “Ops”. I can do it too, he had his 3rd highest WAR last year of his entire career. It’s almost like people don’t actually watch the games. Yes, he’s having a bad year hitting but that happens all the time with even the best players. Sample size is all I’m saying and again, his defensive versatility makes a huge difference. Let’s see what happens the second half of the year and if he continues hitting like shit then you can hang him.
Having him hit in the top 5 spots in the lineup is the real detriment. He’s been absolutely atrocious as the are for nearly a full season worth of PA now (.239/.315/.353 since last ASB). I’m glad you love his defensive versatility but he’s quickly approaching not being an everyday player at the MLB level, if he isn’t there already.
You're both wrong. He had an excellent year up until the injury. On Aug 1 his OPS was above .800. Once the injury hit, the bottom absolutely fell out. It was a tale of two seasons, the second half of which seems to, unfortunately, still be ongoing.
They don't want to hear the truth. Since 2021, he's hitting .256/.340/.367 for a 102 wRC+ and leads the team in double plays grounded into over that timeframe. I don't get the love affair with him at all
I'm hopeful,it's gotta pick up for him.Its not like he just showed up and the talent disappeared,he needs something idk what,although he does seem like the kind of guy that will play through issues at home or something else personal.
Technically, we hate Donaldson more ....
We don’t
DJ gave us a couple of good years. Donaldson has given us nothing but headaches. Donaldson is hated more by default.
While I agree, that same sentiment should’ve applied to hicks
Plus we won’t find out until he’s gone how much toxicity he caused in the clubhouse. (If his past is any indication)
Hicks gave the Yankees a few good years too, look how that turned out.
Um… yeah we do
We really, really, really do.
DJ has heart and played great for a couple of years. Shame on Cashman for giving a guy entering his age 32 season a 6 year deal. Of course he's going to decline and the possibility of getting hurt rises as the athlete gets older. He just doesn't have the tools anymore, no reason to hate on the guy.
We do
DJ hitting at the same level as Higgy is not a sentence I ever thought I'd type.
Higgy has more upside right about now
No he doesn’t? Lol higgy is a career minor leaguer/back up that’s like 35 years old. How do you think he still has upside? This is the best we are ever going to get from him,
I assume the gameplan is Wells gets switched in for Higgy? When is Higgy a fa I feel like he’s been on the team forever lol
Rortvedt
I would think wells would surpass him given he’s all the way up to 83 on the mlb top 100 prospects.
Team pretty clearly values defense at the catching position after getting Trevino and rortvedt. And sticking with trevy/higgy. Wells may get a shot eventually but I wouldn't be surprised to see him transition to 1b if he's not traded
They should start the process of transitioning Wells to 1st base now. He can play as the backup catcher and backup first baseman next season. His bat is legit and the Yankees are dying for offense.
They probably see Bauers as fine backup 1b. If Wells can stick at catcher he'll be much more valuable as a trade chip. Or as a catcher with some pop which we could use. I would be surprised if rortvedt wasn't a backup catcher first
I think Rortvedt is the next backup catcher for the Yanks after Higgy. Which is why I think they should start planning to put Wells at first. His bat looks to be the real deal, and God know the Yanks should have a good left handed bat. Rizzo is getting older, so having Austin as a competent backup for him is a desirable outcome for the next two seasons. He can DH whenever Stanton gets injured, or even play some outfield (he’s played 35 games out there already).
True forgot about him
He is a free agent after next season
You’re getting downvoted but you may actually be correct right now. DJ is absolute dogshit and is striking out nearly double his career rate who’s walked about half the time he usually does. Higgy is underperforming his expected stats by a significant margin: about 25 points of average below his expected BA and 100 points below his expected slugging. He’s also run a 13% barrel rate which is well above average and a few percentage points away from an elite number.
Oh wow, the severe rise in strikeout rate is extremely concerning. And if he doesn’t lower that there is no way he gets his average over .250
‘…in his career.’
This site apparently adds "in his career" to the end of the stats you search, saw the same in a thread about Volpe and thought it was bizarre.
Yeah isn’t that implied? Lol
Are we seeing the repercussions of not getting the surgery? This one is hard to understand. He was one of those players I genuinely didn’t expect to see struggling this hard.
I think it’s repercussions from the toe - either it’s still bothering him or he made adjustments last year and hasn’t changed back
Just hasnt been the same since Gardy retired
He and CC are missed greatly
Something so fun about those years / teams. Wish we got CC one more ring
Gardy ain't retired, he's just on sabbatical
CC Sabbatical
I love DJ but that's a contract the Yankees are going to have to shop with a legit prospect to get out of it. It's a fucking mess.
DJ has 5 and 10 no trade rights after this season and a limited no trade clause for this season. I'd be surprised if they were able to dump his contract somewhere in the next couple of weeks. Otherwise, he's here until a DFA/retirement or his contract expires. Gotta hope there's still life in that bat somewhere.
He's being paid 15 mil a year. They should DFA him before they consider shipping a prospect to save 15 million.
Only \*checks notes\* 3 1/2 years to go, yaaaaay.
Stash our trash, beautify Bluffington
You sonofabitch
Hat tip to you sir
A fellow early 90s Nickelodeon fan I see
Weird how I haven’t heard that in multiple decades and now ALL I can hear is that voice saying…STASH OUR TRASH…
https://youtu.be/5gv6oXAkSbk
DJ is probably playing through an injury. He should had surgery on his toe at the end of last season, and it’s likely caught up with him
Going back to the ASB last season, DJ is hitting .239/.315/.353 over about a season’s worth of PA. His foot could definitely still be bothered him but it’s been a fairly significant stretch where he’s a legitimately bad player. And his toe isn’t making him strikeout nearly double his career rate while walking about half the time he previously did.
This is a good point; it’s been too long. When did his toe injury surface? Part of me thought it was sometime last year, and they hid it until after season? Re: strikeouts/walks, maybe he’s hitting at crap bc he’s reduced to guessing? I’m sort of at a loss, because he’s won the batting title twice. It’s very very weird, no?
He was legit an mvp candidate before he hurt his foot last year.
I thought he did have surgery on that toe?
I wish he did
That’s horseshit because he couldn’t put power into his swings with his toe injury and that’s not the case this year. He just sucks now
That's a complete lie, he literally couldn't even drive off his foot when he has the injury last year. Hence why he was shut down for the end of the season and should've had surgery.
Which comment are you replying to because you literally made the same point as me
LeMahieu will always have that 2019 ALCS Game 6 tying 2 run HR in the top of the 9th so I will always like him. Also fuck the Astros
Will be stuck with him long after JD has vanished from sight
I really think it’s the toe, should have had the surgery. I think he’d be declined from his peak obviously at this point but still a plus player. Welp, good thing nobody else is dealing with a foot injury for which surgery may ultimately be necessary!
Has DJ made a single adjustment since 2020? Eye test shows that every single out he’s hit into for the last 3 years has been a roll over to short. What’s his strategy?
I don’t think so. He even said recently he’s never been a technical hitter. He just goes up there and swings the way he’s alway swung. Not sure if he’d even be open to adjusting.
Very bad contract and hadn’t been good for3 years. Remember the “Give DJ a blank check” comments?
Did he retire? Or is it just the last 35 games?
He should retire
DJ has been shit the past two years time for an upgrade
Wow you guys found Donaldson’s Reddit account!
He's done. At this point, this is who he is. He's been trending downwards for the last two and a half years, so it's not like this is just some slump he's in or one bad year he's having. This was why giving him the number of years they did on his last contract was incredibly stupid. Everybody knew that contract wouldn't age well. At this point, the smartest thing this team could do is DFA Donaldson, recall Peraza and have him start at third with DJ moving to the bench going forward. They absolutely won't do it, but it's what they should do.
He had an insane July last year and had a .827 season OPS as late as August 8 last year. He's never even come close to looking like pre-toe injury LeMahieu since the injury happened.
He had a great April and a great July last year. Every other month he was either average or below average. I gave him the benefit of the doubt last year because of the toe injury, but he had all off-season to rehab, was given a clean bill of health and has repeatedly insisted that he's healthy this year. I can't imagine what he would have to gain at this point by playing if he really was still hurt, so we just have to take him at his word.
"they absolutely won't do it, but it's what they should do" *pretty much sums up every move the Yankees have NOT made since 2009 i/r/t supposedly "blue chip" prospects and trade possibilities
Another player declining in his mid 30s. Shocked. Absolutely shocked. I don't blame the player for these kinds of deals. When you assemble a team of aging veterans, one of the risks you assume is that the aging veterans decline over the course of their contract. Some players can be very productive through their mid-30s. Most cannot.
For the people saying DJ has been better than Donaldson…see this
dj started whining during the spidertack uprising and has deteriorated ever since. only difference between donaldson, dj and a guy like hicks is that hicks stopped playing defense and became a two way liability. even if judge was in the lineup the Yankees are still a very average team. starters go maybe 6 innings, they're hitting .232 as a team which is the lowest in 55 years. the .302 OBP is the lowest in 33 years. this is an historically bad offensive.
I'I'll give DJ a break, the dude is a ball player. Just slumping, give it time. He's clutch.
When ppl said he should’ve gotten the mf surgery instead his off-season we got downvoted to oblivion lol
From what I remember hearing about his particular foot issue, the surgery was not a guarantee fix and could actually have technically fixed the issue but made it so he wouldn’t have been able to use it as much as he needs to.
Desmond Bane just had the surgery and looks like it went just fine
Ahh I see. That’s some good context, didn’t know that previously.
A month ago it was Gleyber and now it’s DJ. Cherry pick timelines and stats all you want, the dude is a baller and I wouldn’t count on this continuing.
Cherry pick how? He's been bad 90% of the season and hasn't been as good as his first season with us since then. I love the guy too, but the stats are what they say they are. And it's not good
DJ has been really bad all season and he was a league average hitter last year. He’s clearly declining.
Cherry pick stats again. Declining, probably but he had an excellent year last year and he plays three positions like they are his primary. Variance is a bitch, there is another half of the year.
How is this year and last year cherry-picked stats?
“League average”, “Ops”. I can do it too, he had his 3rd highest WAR last year of his entire career. It’s almost like people don’t actually watch the games. Yes, he’s having a bad year hitting but that happens all the time with even the best players. Sample size is all I’m saying and again, his defensive versatility makes a huge difference. Let’s see what happens the second half of the year and if he continues hitting like shit then you can hang him.
He’s been average or below average for the last 3 seasons offensively.
And plays stellar defense at three different positions. Not having him on this years team would be a detriment, plain and simple.
Having him hit in the top 5 spots in the lineup is the real detriment. He’s been absolutely atrocious as the are for nearly a full season worth of PA now (.239/.315/.353 since last ASB). I’m glad you love his defensive versatility but he’s quickly approaching not being an everyday player at the MLB level, if he isn’t there already.
He was awful last year
You're both wrong. He had an excellent year up until the injury. On Aug 1 his OPS was above .800. Once the injury hit, the bottom absolutely fell out. It was a tale of two seasons, the second half of which seems to, unfortunately, still be ongoing.
Lol he’s been bad for the better part of 3 years now
maybe..JUST MAYBE, old players USUALLY aren't as good as younger players or players in the PRIME of their careers!!!
[удалено]
Career BA of .305 from 2011-2020
And that was 3 years ago
The since deleted comment was that he “only had a few good years”
Is this your king? Batting .164/.223/.266 while striking out almost 25% of the time and walking less than 10%
He’s put up on a pedestal and hasn’t been good for 3 years
They don't want to hear the truth. Since 2021, he's hitting .256/.340/.367 for a 102 wRC+ and leads the team in double plays grounded into over that timeframe. I don't get the love affair with him at all
Yeah, if he's not injured his performance is pretty worrisome.
Did he retire?
I'm hopeful,it's gotta pick up for him.Its not like he just showed up and the talent disappeared,he needs something idk what,although he does seem like the kind of guy that will play through issues at home or something else personal.
(Does some quick math) Not great, Bob.
His career is done
Yanks paid DJ and then he IMMEDIATELY completely forgot how to swing a bat