Did the Chicago Cubs dodge a bullet in not signing DJ LeMahieu?

Look. We’ve all heard the schtick too many times to count since 2016. Dexter Fowler was the sparkplug for that powerful Chicago Cubs team and the front office has failed to fill the void left by his departure for going on a half-decade now.

But last winter, a former Cub who went on to establish himself as one of the game’s premier hitters in DJ LeMahieu, hit free agency. You couldn’t help but wonder if Jed Hoyer had his name circled on his wish list. The thought of the two-time batting champ setting the table ahead of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez was no doubt enticing.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

Of course, that’s not how it all went down. Instead of making substantive improvements to a team that won the NL Central in 2020, ownership and the front office decided to trade Cy Young runner-up Yu Darvish to the San Diego Padres in a blatant cost-cutting move that drew the ire of fans and undoubtedly put the 2021 team in a worse-off position.

Meanwhile, LeMahieu took what most in the game considered to be a pay cut (at least in terms of AAV) to stay in the Bronx, returning to the New York Yankees on a six-year, $90 million deal that runs through the 2026 campaign – LeMahieu’s age 37 season.

After putting up a 1.011 OPS, driven largely by a .421 OBP, last season, though, the veteran hasn’t been the same guy in 2021, slashing just .266/.346/.362 entering action on Thursday. That works out to a 98 OPS+, meaning he’s been two percent worse than the league average offensive player this season.

That’s hardly what the swing-and-miss prone Yankees were hoping for. With the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and, now, Joey Gallo in the lineup on a daily basis, New York desperately needed someone with a different offensive profile. Instead, they’ve received a guy who, all of the sudden, is trending in the wrong direction – in the first go-round of a six-year deal.

Without LeMahieu firing on all cylinders, the Bronx Bombers are fighting for their postseason hopes. The team, which had run off a double-digit win streak following the deadline, followed that up with five straight losses entering action on Thursday, going 2-8 in its last 10 contests.

LeMahieu’s struggles are hardly the only factor at play here, but if he can’t rebound not only down the stretch but in the years to come, New York could quickly end up regretting that extension. After the Cubs’ fire sale at the trade deadline, though, Chicago is poised to make big-time noise in free agency for years to come. The trick will be avoiding missteps similar to the Yanks’ extending LeMahieu.