Yankees Potential Free Agent Target: Josh Rojas
01/02/2025 08:30 AM
Could the lefty infielder help mitigate DJ LeMahieu's struggles vs. righties?
In a recent report from Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, we learned that the Yankees are leaving the door open for 36-year-old DJ LeMahieu to reclaim an everyday starting role in 2025. This is a terrifying prospect on a number of levels and threatens their ability to match their performance from a year ago.
It's worth noting, of course, that we still have a month and a half until pitchers and catchers report, and the actual quotes from both GM Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone suggest more of a vague hope for potential LeMahieu contributions rather than definitely counting on him. He's still under contract and it's not like there are games on the docket for next week, so for now, there are minimal consequences to any comments they might make about his role. No guarantees were made.
If they are, however, legitimately interested in giving LeMahieu playing time, one way they could mitigate his struggles is by platooning him with free agent infielder Josh Rojas — a name Kirschner floated as an alternate option to the in-house selection.
2024 Statistics: 143 games, 476 PA, .225/.304/.336, 8 HR, 31 RBI, 91 wRC+, 9 Outs Above Average, 1.9 fWAR
2025 FanGraphs Depth Charts Projections: 83 games, 357 PA, .242/.319/.365, 7 HR, 33 RBI, 94 wRC+, 1.2 fWAR
Previous Contract: Earned $3.1 million in first of three years of arbitration eligibility. Non-tendered by Mariners, becoming a free agent.
The Astros selected Rojas in the 26th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, dealing him to the Diamondbacks two years later as part of the package to acquire Zack Greinke. Less than two weeks after arriving in Arizona, he made his big-league debut, but struggled mightily in his first two seasons, with a 54 wRC+ in 58 games between 2019 and 2020. He managed to put it together at the plate in 2021 and 2022, slashing .266/.345/.401 with a 106 wRC+ and healthy 10.7-percent walk rate, leading Arizona to use him as their leadoff hitter for long stretches during that span.
Unfortunately, a terrible start to 2023 that saw Rojas fail to hit a home run in his first 59 games led the Diamondbacks to include him in a trade for Mariners closer Paul Sewald, and his bat never recovered from that slow start. Over the last two seasons, Rojas has hit just 12 home runs, with a paltry 85 wRC+ in 248 games. He lost almost two points off his walk rate thanks to a combination of an increased swing rate — from 41.5-percent to 44.7-percent — and opposing pitchers becoming more confident in attacking him in the zone — his first-pitch strike rate jumping from 59.2-percent to 64.8-percent.
However, Rojas managed to maintain a baseline of value by transforming himself from one of the worst infield defenders in the game to one of the best. Between 2021 and 2022, his -14 Outs Above Average ranked 150th out of 156 qualified infielders. Between 2023 and 2024, he put up 15 OAA between second and third — tied with the likes of Nolan Arenado and Matt Chapman for 17th among qualified infielders.
In a way, Rojas profiles as a slightly slower but slightly more patient version of a player already locked in as starter in the Yankees infield — Anthony Volpe. Both have poor bat speed resulting in consistently mediocre quality of contact, but ride their Gold Glove-caliber defense to a certain floor of value. When he's at his best, Rojas excels at waiting for his pitch to hit and making solid contact. Despite the below-league-average production, Rojas still finished 2024 in the 84th percentile or better in squared-up rate and chase rate. If he could get back to being more selective on pitches in the zone and taking his walks if the ideal pitch doesn't come, all of a sudden you are looking at a three-win player when paired with this newly discovered defensive excellence.
The question is whether Rojas represents a significant upgrade over the Yankees' internal options for the final infield vacancy. His bat is probably the same as an Oswaldo Cabrera, but with elite defense at the hot corner. One way the Yankees could maximize his value would be to platoon him with LeMahieu, though even then this is no guarantee of improved performance at the plate. For his career, LeMahieu has a 112 wRC+ against lefties and 95 wRC+ against righties while the lefty Rojas owns an 81 wRC+ against lefties and 95 wRC+ against righties.
While LeMahieu is unlikely to replicate his career averages going forward, Rojas is similarly unlikely to offer enough upside in a platoon with LeMahieu to make it worth adding him over the internal infield candidates. Such is the consequence of dropping down from the top tier of remaining free agents — your Alex Bregmans and the like — down to the players who were non-tendered despite having multiple years of team control remaining. The pickings are slim, but given the renewed focus of the front office on defense, I would not be surprised to see them kick the tires on a guy like Rojas.