Ryan McMahon can look forward to a pennant race after joining the New York Yankees on Friday. (AP … More Photo/David Zalubowski)
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The New York Yankees stepped decisively into the trade deadline swap meet when they acquired two-way third baseman Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies on Friday.
The move addresses multiple needs for the Yankees, cementing the third base position on both sides of the ball while adding another left-handed bat to a Yankee Stadium that is built for left-handed hitters with its 314-foot porch down the right-field line.
The Yankees also were able to keep the major league roster basically intact for the stretch run without raiding the top of their farm system, where Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. reside. They are sending pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz to the Rockies.
New York, the 2024 American League champion, entered the weekend 4 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East. They held a two-game lead over Seattle and a 2 1/2 game lead over Boston for the first wild card.
While major league RBI leader Eugenio Suarez is the top third baseman on the market, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ expectedly high asking price led the Yankees to McMahon, who was considered the No. 2 third baseman available because of the Rockies’ desire to restructure after a disastrous 2025.
McMahon has two years remaining on a six-year, $70 million contract extension he signed before the 2022 season that bought out the final two years of arbitration and three years of free agency.
The Yankees, who have a $295 million payroll this season, will owe McMahon about $4.2 million of his prorated 2025 salary and $16 million in both 2026 and 2027.
What McMahon Means for the Yankees
McMahon, 30, profiles as the Yankees’ answer at third base for the length of his contract, anchoring a position that has been unstable since Miguel Andujar played 132 games there in 2018.
The Yankees have tried five third basemen this season, with Oswald Peraza (33) Oswaldo Cabrera (30) and Jazz Chisholm (28) getting most of the work. As a group, they are hitting .214 with a .354 slugging percentage and a .645 OPS, the last two numbers the worst on the team.
Chisholm was acquired in a deadline move last season to play third, but his best infield position is considered second, when he has spent most of the season.
Chisholm returned to second when DJ LeMahieu was released before the All-Star break, leaving a gaping opening at third. The Yankees took short look at minor leaguer Jorbit Vivas after the break before deciding they had to make a change.
McMahon has three home runs in six games after the All-Star and is on pace for his fifth straight 20-homer season, which would be he sixth of a career all spent with the Rockies.
McMahon also has been among the premier defenders at third since taking over full-time in Colorado 2021, after Nolan Arenado was traded to St. Louis as the Rockies’ looked to get from under another long-term contract.
He was plus-12 in defensive runs saved among major league third baseman in 2024, according to FanGraphs, and is plus-four this season. He is plus-64 in his major league career.
McMahon has one homer in a six-game sample size at Yankee Stadium.
How do the Colorado Rockies benefit?
Rockies co-owner Charlie Monfort told the Denver Post in late June that “I think we need a new set of eyeballs” at the top levels of the organization as they play out what will be a third straight 100-loss season.
Part of that includes freeing money, and McMahon was the second-highest player on the roster. Kris Bryant still has three years remaining on his six-year, $182 million free agent deal signed in 2022, but back issues have limited him to 11 games this season and threaten to end his career.
The Rockies have never been afraid to spend, but their choices have not always worked out, often for health reasons. Starter German Marquez, in the final year of a two-year, $20 million extension, is on the disabled list again this season after spending much of 2024 out after Tommy John surgery. Starter Antonio Senzatela, in the third of year a five-year, $50 million extension, has a major league-high 13 losses.
Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar signed a seven-year, $63.5 million extension this spring after a breakout 2024, but he played only 37 games because of a left hip and contusion and a left oblique strain.
The Rockies, always in the market for controllable pitching because it is difficult to lure free agent starters to Coors Field, and newcomer Herring is having a good season at two Class A levels going 7-3 with a 1.71 ERA in 16 starts.
Her was the Yankees’ No. 8 prospect at the time of the deal, according to MLB.com, The Yankees signed him to a well-over-slot $797,500 bonus after picking him in the sixth round of the 2024 draft. Grosz was ranked as the Yankees’ No. 21 prospect.
