Yankees cut 2-time batting champ DJ LeMahieu with nearly $22 million left on contract

NEW YORK (AP) — DJ LeMahieu was cut by the New York Yankees with almost $22 million remaining on his contract, one day after the two-time batting champion got demoted to the bench.

“It's been a tough couple days. Some hard conversations," manager Aaron Boone said before New York's 9-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners. "But in the end, feel like this is the right thing to do at this time."

LeMahieu, who turns 37 on Sunday, was designated for assignment Wednesday and fellow infielder Jorbit Vivas was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

New York released LeMahieu on Thursday, owing $21,612,903 from the $90 million, six-year deal he signed with the Yankees prior to the 2021 season: $6,612,903 for the rest of this year and $15 million in 2026.

Any team can sign him for a prorated share of the $760,000 minimum.

“Tough decisions," general manager Brian Cashman said. "It ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what’s best. You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves.”

LeMahieu, a three-time All-Star, was batting .266 with two homers, 12 RBIs and a .674 OPS. He made his season debut May 13 after recovering from a left calf strain and had a .310 average in his last 31 games since June 1.

A versatile defender in the past, LeMahieu has made all 35 of his starts at second base this year — even though he's got plenty of experience at third and the Yankees essentially have a hole there.

Going back to the winter, LeMahieu expressed a preference to play second or first because third base “had become an issue physically” at this stage of his career, Cashman said.

So that's why LeMahieu played second exclusively throughout his minor league rehab assignment and was inserted there when he came off the injured list.

All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. began the season at second base, his most natural position, after playing third for the Yankees last year. But he got hurt in late April and when he returned in early June from a right oblique strain, he moved back to the hot corner for a while as LeMahieu stayed at second.

“We gave him runway to see what he looked like, to see if this dimension with the current setup was going to be workable,” Cashman said. "At some point, you make some tough decisions.”

LeMahieu won three Gold Gloves at second with Colorado from 2014-18 — and another one in a utility role with the Yankees in 2022. But his range has been diminished by toe, foot, hip and calf injuries in recent years.

The athletic Chisholm, meanwhile, has made some wild throws from third base lately while hindered by a sore shoulder. So on Tuesday, Boone moved Chisholm back to second and put LeMahieu on the bench.

Boone said LeMahieu didn't ask for his release and was willing to start working out at other positions — including third base — to provide options.

But a day later, after multiple meetings with Boone and Cashman this week, LeMahieu's 6 1/2-year tenure with the Yankees came to an unceremonious end.

“Looking at what the next few weeks could unveil, kind of Cash and I decided today like, it was probably the day to go ahead and do it," Boone said. "I just feel like now and how our roster’s built, maybe this gives us some more flexibility in the short term.”

Boone said third base going forward will be “some kind of combination" between Vivas and light-hitting Oswald Peraza, who started at the hot corner for the second consecutive night Wednesday.

Boone also said backup catcher J.C. Escarra could even “figure into that mix.”

Regardless, Cashman will be looking for a third baseman as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.

New York added depth by signing infielder Nicky Lopez and third baseman Jeimer Candelario to minor league contracts this month.

LeMahieu won his first batting title in 2016 with the Rockies and his second with New York in 2020, when he hit .364 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs in 50 games during the pandemic-shortened season.

“As widely respected a player as we’ve had — and understandably so,” Boone said. “He’s earned that with just his professionalism, his toughness, his play on the field and just kind of the quiet way he goes about things. There’s a lot of guys that have an immense amount of respect for DJ.

“Sometimes you have to make hard decisions.”

In another move, the Yankees opened a roster spot for right-hander Cam Schlittler by designating reliever Geoff Hartlieb for assignment. Schlittler was selected from Triple-A to start Wednesday night against Seattle in his major league debut.

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New York Yankees' DJ LeMahieu runs to first base for an RBI single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics Friday, June 27, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees second base DJ LeMahieu (26) grounds out Athletics' Max Muncy (10) during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, June 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.

New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.

However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.

“This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.

One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.

The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.

So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.

Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.

Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.

Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.

For years, federal health officials joined doctors' groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.

But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.

“I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.

“Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable," she said in a statement.

Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

FILE - Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a seasonal flu vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)