The Tuesday Discussion: Ryan McMahon?

April 7, 2026

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This week we posed the following to our writers:

Ryan McMahon is off to a very slow start with the bat.  Assuming his bat doesn't come around over the new few weeks, what will be the best way for the Yankees to address third base?

Here are their replies...

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Derek McAdam - Once Anthony Volpe comes back, he will likely be playing every day. This will allow Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero to be the first and second options in case McMahon is unable to turn things around at the plate. Unfortunately for him, his defense has also been a bit shoddy, which could at least make up a little bit for the poor batting. 

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Paul Semendinger - There isn't an easy answer here. But if the pitching depth proves to be as deep as many hope, the Yankees could trade some excess pitching for a quality third baseman.

The other option would be to trade Spencer Jones for a top third baseman. (Jones is still striking out at a frightening rate.)

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Mike Whiteman - Assuming McMahon isn't just dropped from the roster, I see two options with the players currently on the team:

1. More playing time for Amed Rosario. He's a .273 lifetime hitter, but not a good fielder at all. Maybe Rosario feels better at his original position, shortstop, and maybe he plays there and Jose Caballero moves to third. 

2. JC Escarra played a couple games at third base last year, and could in theory get some starts at the hot corner. He has turned out to be a pretty decent defensive catcher, but it's a mystery how he would handle extended action. 

Neither option looks good. I say stick with McMahon. 

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Cary Greene - We're not even 10 games into the season yet. Granted, Ryan McMahon is off to a very poor start to the season. There's probably a good chance that McMahon will slowly start to become more like the player that the back of his baseball card says he is - which is a career .736 OPS offensive player. Due to his superb defensive acumen, the Yankees would no doubt like to give him every chance to make the necessary adjustments he needs to make at the plate. So far this season, McMahon simply isn't getting the ball in the air, his Launch Angle of -1.1 is way off from his career average of 10.8 so this telling stat kind of sums up what McMahon's main problem has been here in the early going. 

This offseason was the time to move on from McMahon and Hal Steinbrenner was unwilling to spend the money to handle things proactively. Back in November of this year, I was strongly in favor of the Yankees signing Kazuma Okamoto, who the Blue Jays scooped up for 4-years and $60 million. In order to fit him into the budget, Toronto structured Okamoto's deal to include a team friendly $8.25 million first year and so here we all are, wondering why on earth Ryan McMahon is still the Yankees starting third baseman. Meanwhile, Okamoto is sporting a .795 OPS as he adjusts to MLB pitching while playing for a Division rival. Clearly Brain Cashman wasn't to blame for not signing Okamoto - this one folks, falls squarely on Hal Steinbrenner's unwillingness to address the team's obvious faults. No doubt, the Yankees believe(d) that McMahon could have a much stronger season this year as well, but kudos to Cashman for at least doing his part. Realizing that the Yankees system was very thin at third base, Cashman added some key veteran depth to the organization this offseason and the moves he made may wind up paying dividends. 

On February 9th of this year, Cashman swung a minor trade with the A's, sending minor league right-hander Luis Burgos to the A's in exchange for Max Schuemann who plays third base and corner outfield. Schuemann was easily the Yankees best third baseman this spring as he posted a .949 OPS. Considering that Schuemann is only a phone call away, the Yankees could easily either platoon him with McMahon or decide to lose McMahon entirely, so promoting Schuemann is the obvious first move, should the Yankees feel compelled to make an improvement at third base. 

Cashman also signed Paul DeJong this offseason, he plays both shortstop and third base and he's logged 6,611.1 MLB innings over his career, so he too could become part of a solution to fortify the Yankees infield. Organizationally, the Yankees are well positioned to weather any storm, be it at third base or elsewhere, but third base belongs to Ryan McMahon for the foreseeable future. 

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John Nielsen - Ryan McMahon will enter play today, as the Yankees open a three-game home set against the Athletics, carrying the following line:

BA: .087

OBP: .276

OPS: .363

OPS+: 11

That’s about as rough a start as you’ll ever see.

That said, there are early signs he may have bottomed out. McMahon snapped an 0-for-21 skid on Sunday and showed improved plate discipline throughout the Marlins series, drawing several walks. More importantly, his underlying metrics suggest this slump may be more rooted in bad luck..

A look under the hood supports that idea:

• His exit velocity sits in the 69th percentile, indicating he’s still making solid contact.

• His hard-hit rate is in the 91st percentile, reinforcing the notion that he’s squaring balls up and simply not getting results.

• His walk rate (94th percentile) and a respectable chase rate (60th percentile) show he’s not expanding the zone or pressing recklessly.

  
  

Taken together, this looks far more like bad luck than a fundamentally broken hitter.

And it’s worth remembering what the Yankees signed up for. McMahon’s career line:

BA: .238

OBP: .322

OPS: .736

OPS+: 91

He’s never going to be a top OR middle-of-the-order bat—but he doesn’t need to be. If he settles into his career norms, he’s a perfectly serviceable bottom-third hitter with value tied heavily to his glove.

Which brings us to the real question: what if the bat doesn’t rebound?

If I’m running the club, I stay patient. Keep him situated in the 8th or 9th spot to minimize offensive damage and let the defense play. His glove is the primary reason he’s in the lineup/on the roster, and that value doesn’t disappear during a cold stretch.

That said, there’s a clean contingency:

• Continue to platoon aggressively. Sit McMahon against left-handed pitching and high-leverage lefty relievers when offense is needed.

• Increase Amed Rosario’s reps at third base (depending on roster usage), especially against favorable matchups.

• If a more decisive change is required, give Rosario a short run as the primary third baseman while using McMahon in a reduced role—late-inning defense, spot starts, and matchup-driven appearances.

Bottom line: the underlying data argues for patience, not panic. But the Yankees have enough roster flexibility to hedge—without overreacting to two bad weeks in April.

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Andy Singer - Ryan McMahon is a guy that has consistently underperformed his underlying Statcast numbers, specifically due to his low contact rate. I liked the changes he made this Spring to simplify his mechanics and decrease his width in his batting stance. I also saw a guy who was really working to try to let the ball travel deeper into the zone before swinging, hence more fly balls to left field.

Everyone here knows that I have long been less than lukewarm on McMahon for a year prior to his acquisition. I firmly believe there were better options out there, though McMahon's superior defense is also a real benefit to the Yankee pitching staff. I'm torn as to how this is handled, and on some level, it really depends on how the rest of the lineup is performing.

If the bottom half of the lineup (Chisholm, Wells, Caballero/Volpe, etc.) is performing reasonably well, it's easier to carry a light bat at 3B. If the bottom of the lineup isn't at least treading water, 3B starts to look like a black hole.

I think there will be some potential options available at the trade deadline, assuming health. Among them:

• Josh Jung, TEX

• Miguel Vargas, CHW

• Yoan Moncada, LAA

• Royce Lewis, MIN

Vargas is the cheap option, assuming he proves that last year wasn't a fluke. He'd be above replacement level and adds at least an ability to put the bat on the ball and play average-ish defense. Moncada is a post-hype name who is a poor defender, but when healthy, generally hits. Jung made a big first impression in the big leagues, has prospect pedigree, and has tools. Injuries have kept him from performing, but it's easy to view him as a change of scenery candidate. Lewis has gobs of talent, is a big name, and could easily be on the move since the Twins project to be awful. All of these teams have a high probability of being in "sell mode" by the trade deadline, and I could see each of these names being available. Each represents at least a modest overall upgrade.

Vargas and Moncada can likely be acquired for mid-level prospects. I don't see getting Jung or Lewis without trading from near the top of the prospect list, with Dominguez and Jones as obvious centerpieces.

All in all, I think the Yankees have until the trade deadline to make a decision on McMahon, but there will be options to move on should McMahon remain a black hole at the plate.