The New York Yankees' 2025 roster is starting to come into focus. With Spring Training just weeks away, manager Aaron Boone has started assembling his ideal batting order and defensive alignment, and he gave fans on Tuesday an idea of what that means for Jazz Chisholm Jr., DJ LeMahieu and more.
Speaking on WFAN, Boone indicated that he sees Chisholm at second base with LeMahieu left to duke it out with Oswaldo Cabrera and Oswald Peraza for the third base job.
Since coming over in a trade last season with the Miami Marlins, Chisholm has primarily played third base for the Yankees. The bulk of his experience at second came in 2021 and 2022, his first two full seasons in the Majors.
With Gleyber Torres manning second base last year for New York, Chisholm did not play a game at the position after the trade. Now that Torres is with the Detroit Tigers, the Yankees needed to figure out second base. They dealt Caleb Durbin, who was in the running for the job, to the Milwaukee Brewers in the trade for reliever Devin Williams, clearing the way for Chisholm to return to the right side of the infield.
Boone added that Chisholm is in the mix with rookie Jasson Dominguez to be the Yankees' leadoff man, a position Torres also held last year.
Yankees IF DJ LeMahieu out to prove he still has it
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LeMahieu has drawn the ire of Yankees fans over the last year-plus as injuries and ineffectiveness turned a two-time batting champion into a liability in the New York lineup.
At 36 years old and, by all accounts, healthy, LeMahieu has a chance to show he is still a capable Major Leaguer.
“He got a lot healthier by the end of the season. He was working, so I’m still not going to be surprised if DJ hits on some level for us,” Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com earlier in January. “Again, it comes down to health. It comes down to, can he maintain that health to allow him to put out his at-bat, his approach, his swing?”
Whether Boone is right or wrong, the Yankees may have no choice but to give LeMahieu a chance to prove himself. He has two years and $30 million remaining on his contract.
“I feel really good about where he was at the very end of the season physically,” Boone added. “Now, can he maintain that and improve upon that in the winter and really put himself in the mix heading into Spring Training? I would never cross off a player of his caliber, even though it’s been obviously a tough couple of years.”
