Washington Nationals: Seven free agent second baseman to consider

DJ LeMahieu

Of the seven options listed in this article, it’s now looking like DJ LeMahieu is the least likely to be with the Washington Nationals next year. However, depending on how the rest of the offseason plays out, he’s still a possibility.

As we’ve talked about a few times, there are going to be several concerns from other teams about whether LeMahieu can sustain his production away from Coors Field.

In his career, he’s hit .329 at Coors with a positive .834 OPS, however, these come via an extremely high .374 BABIP. That sort of figure is sustainable in Colorado, but outside the thin atmosphere in Denver, it seems a lot less likely.

So when you look at his road numbers during his time as a Rockie, it’s a very underwhelming .264/.312/.365 slash line. While LeMahieu’s glove can make up some of the value, it seems like a risky investment for anyone hoping he can sustain his career numbers.

Again, we look at Heyman’s predictions, to get a sense of cost for the former Rockie. His expert predicted a four-year, $50 million contract while Heyman predicted a three-year $36 million deal.

Jesse Dougherty from the Washington Post noted that the Nationals have had interest in LeMahieu this offseason. However, he says that the team believes he will now be too expensive for the team to fill their need at the keystone. While that doesn’t rule him out given the team’s previous interest, unless the price or years comes down, it probably won’t happen.