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Yankees breakin’ the bankees.

Anyone with even a passing familiarity in Major League Baseball knows that the New York Yankees are one of the absolute titans of the league, scoring wins, scooping up the best players, and making the maddest of mad bank. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that when the time comes around to talk turkey with their heavy hitting players, money is no object.

The Yankees’ second baseman DJ LeMahieu has only been with the team since 2019, but in that time, he has been absolutely crushing it. In the American League’s MVP vote, LeMahieu scored third place above almost every other player in the game. During the shortened 2020 season, he won an AL batting title with a .364 average, a record-setting number right up there with the greats like Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and Lou Gehrig. Out in the field, he’s a veritable prison guard, stopping runners cold on all three bases. He’s also surprisingly hardy, as the only major injury he ever received was a sprained thumb from a wonky swing that benched him for ten days. As far as baseball injuries go, that’s pretty mild.

“If you add up the last two years in Major League Baseball, he’s on the short list of short lists for being the best player in the sport,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the regular season. “He’s been that impactful. In the biggest moments, he always seems to deliver.”

The hits keep playing in the Bronx.

DJ LeMahieu is reportedly returning to the @Yankees on a 6-year, $90 million deal, per @JeffPassan. pic.twitter.com/dlpbX2AlK1

— MLB (@MLB) January 15, 2021

It’s for all these reasons that the Yankees knew they had to keep him on the team, so when the time came to discuss re-upping his contract, the dollar bills started flashing. After a bit of back and forth, the team and LeMahieu agreed on a 6-year contract for a whopping $90 million, with a regular salary of $15 million. That’s a $3 million boost from his 2020 salary. It’s a major investment to be sure, but if he keeps bringing in the results, he’ll more than pay for himself.