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Ryan McMahon of the New York Yankees must step up at the plate

When the New York Yankees acquired third baseman Ryan McMahon last summer, it wasn’t entirely clear what the ballclub would be gaining.

To bring McMahon to New York, the franchise opted to ship minor league players Josh Grosz and Griffin Herring to the Colorado Rockies.

At the time, McMahon was playing his ninth year with the Rockies, finishing his near-decade stint slashing .240/.323/.420 with a .743 OPS and 140 home runs through 1,010 games.

The Yankees had hoped they’d found their starting third baseman in the lefty hitter. Given his NL All-Star title, the ballclub knew he could be worth investing in, but his performance has yet to take off since being traded.

Now, New York might be at a loss, unless McMahon can find a way to dig in. As noted by Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, this is one of the Yankees’ greatest hurdles right now.

McMahon’s Bat Struggles To Heat Up

When the 31-year-old lefty bat found himself caught up in the Rockies-Yankees trade last year, the potential reward seemed far greater than the associated risks.

New York needed some heat at the plate from those positioned in the hot corner, and McMahon looked like a rather clear answer. So, sending two prospects out the door wasn’t too alarming.

When the transaction was announced in late July, Bill Ladson of MLB.com wrote, “McMahon addresses one of the Yankees’ most obvious needs. The club has gotten a .645 OPS from its third basemen this season [2025], eighth worst at that position in MLB.”

But this year, McMahon has not been living up to expectations. At the time of this writing, he owns a slash line of .208/.267/.356 with a .623 OPS and just six homers through 53 games. Albeit two of those home runs were smacked in the past week, one on May 27 and another on May 29.

Yankees Might Be at a Loss

GettyRyan McMahon of the New York Yankees struggles at the plate

While it’s possible that McMahon could turn a corner this season — it’s still quite early in the grand scheme — it’s evident that he is not bringing the payoff the franchise was chasing after.

To add to the frustrations, his defensive performance has not been as promising as it once was. Now, he’s never been one to have a glowing stat sheet compared to others in the big leagues, but there was truly something to work with here.

Having said that, Miller raised a valid question — should the ballclub simply accept defeat when it comes to the third baseman? Perhaps it is time to move on and welcome an upgrade.

As disappointing as this gamble has been, rewards don’t often come without some element of risk. The Yankees took a shot at McMahon, who had turned out to be a significant project. But now, they’re in the same predicament they were in previously.

Outside of McMahon, utility man Amed Rosario has been gaining opportunities at third base. There’s plenty of competition in the hot corner this year between the pair, but at this rate, things certainly are not leaning in favor of the struggling bat.