WOULD THE YANKEES SETTLE FOR LA STELLA?

 And is that a bad thing?

With still no news about DJ LeMahieu, the Yankees obviously need to figure out who their back up plans can be.  DJ is so versatile, not to mention an incredible table setter for the Yankees, it's really gonna be hard to match a player like him if he and the Yankees can't make a deal.  Enter Tommy La Stella.

NJ.com's Joe Giglio writes:

"This guy just feels like a Yankee. Maybe it’s the name. Maybe it’s his New Jersey roots. This guy is a grinder, on-base machine (.370 in 2020) and has turned into one of the hardest players in baseball to strikeout. La Stella wouldn’t just represent a player than could fill LeMahieu’s shoes in the field and at the top of the order; he would be an effective replacement for Brett Gardner’s kind of approach at the plate."

Pinstripe Alley writes:

"La Stella is what you would call a swing-changer. In reality, what he changed the most was his approach and stance, and it worked wonders for him. You can read more about his transformation here. Basically, he watched hours of video and decided to stand “taller, knees hardly bent at all, with his bat at about a 45-degree angle on his shoulder,” per the OC Register.

In five seasons between 2014 and 2018, he hit 10 home runs in total. Then, after re-working his swing with the Angels in 2019, he hit 16 balls out of the park for a new career-high. No, he isn’t a 35-home run hitter now, but he has decent power, as he drives the ball more often."

But look. All of this bothers me because this replacement, while a very good one, is not the answer. I said it perfectly a few weeks ago... WITH NO LEMAHIEU, YANKS HAVE NO SHOT AT A WORLD SERIES TITLE IN 2021. I'm sticking to that. The Yankees don't have the tools without a guy like DJ...bottom line.

But don't worry Joe Giglio from NJ.com believes the Yankees will be fine. His reasons? These:

"Here are five reasons why.

Yankees can win the division without LeMahieu...

When Brian Cashman puts a dollar valuation on a player, he’s usually right...

This franchise unearths talent now...

Replacement options are there...

Decline at is probably coming soon..."

There's plenty wrong with these 5 reasons, but the big one is that he's wrong. 

Let's face it, guys like Giglio are the same guys that said that picking LeMahieu up in the first place was a bad idea. 2 years later, it's clear looking at his numbers, his ability to get on base, his defense and his ability to come through in the clutch, that no one can replace him, AND/OR the Yankees will have a real hard time winning without him.  Health is an issue on the Yankees. We also need a starting pitcher... just one solid starter can get us over the hump, but need a table setter to win it. DJ is that guy. In short, this is a guess from Giglio and nothing more.

Bottom is this.... La Stella coming to New York would be nice... but it's not DJ nice... he's a hole filler and for me... I'm telling you, I don't see a championship coming to New York if DJ isn't back. We need much more than La Stella... we just do.