NEW YORK — The Yankees are winning games, sitting comfortably in the American League race, and still carrying a problem that refuses to fix itself. It is not the bullpen. It is not the lineup’s biggest names. It is Ryan McMahon at third base, and the way out may looks increasingly tough.
That is the uncomfortable reality facing the front office as June arrives. The team is good. One corner of the infield is not. And solving it might mean writing off millions.
A trade that has not paid off
Ryan McMahon arrived in the Bronx at the 2025 trade deadline with a reputation as a steady glove and a useful bat. The Yankees believed they were locking down third base for years. Nearly a full season of evidence later, that belief looks shaky.
McMahon is 31 years old and signed through 2027 as part of a $70 million contract. The numbers since the trade tell the story the Yankees did not want. In 107 games with New York, he has managed just a .633 OPS. For a player making this kind of money, that level of production does not come close to matching the price tag.
His 2026 has been worse. Through 53 games, McMahon is hitting only .208 with a .623 OPS. He was a far more productive hitter during his years with the Colorado Rockies. In pinstripes, the bat has gone quiet, and the Yankees are paying premium dollars for replacement-level offense.
Few McMahon options and none of them clean
The trouble for the Yankees is that the trade market offers little relief. McMahon’s contract and his slumping bat make him nearly impossible to deal. No contender wants to absorb that salary for that output, which strips away the tidiest solution.
That leaves the Yankees with a short and unappealing menu. They can keep running McMahon out at third and hope the bat wakes up. They can bench him and pay him to sit. Or they can release him outright and eat the remaining money, just as they did with LeMahieu.
None of those choices is easy. Each carries a cost, whether in dollars, roster flexibility, or lineup production. For a team built to win now, dead weight at a corner infield spot is a luxury the Yankees can ill afford.
The $25 million escape hatch
Here is the part that stings. The cleanest way out for the Yankees may also be the most expensive one. Roughly $25 million remains on McMahon’s deal. Cutting him loose would mean eating nearly all of it for nothing in return.
That scenario was laid out by Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller, who named McMahon as the single biggest problem on the Yankees roster heading into June. Miller drew a direct line to a decision the team already made once before.
“At what point do they admit defeat and eat roughly $25 million to release McMahon, like they did with DJ LeMahieu last year?” Miller wrote in identifying what he called the Ryan McMahon conundrum.
The LeMahieu comparison matters. Last year the Yankees swallowed a large sum to part ways with the veteran infielder. The gamble worked. The players who replaced LeMahieu gave the team better production than he had been providing. That precedent now hangs over the McMahon situation like a blueprint.
Internal fixes the Yankees could explore
There may be answers already inside the clubhouse. If the Yankees decide to change things at the hot corner without simply releasing McMahon, they have movable pieces. Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jose Caballero and Anthony Volpe have all been floated as players who could shift to third base depending on how the roster shakes out.
Each move would create a ripple effect elsewhere on the diamond. Sliding Chisholm or Volpe across the infield opens a hole at another position. Caballero has shown the versatility to bounce around, which makes him a logical candidate to absorb innings at third if the Yankees want flexibility.
Whatever path they choose, the message from the analysis is blunt. The Yankees need to do something different at third base. Standing pat and hoping has not worked through 53 games, and the calendar is no longer on their side.
A decision the Yankees cannot keep delaying
The McMahon question is not going away on its own. His expensive contract and his ongoing struggles have combined into one of the trickiest calls the Yankees front office faces this season. There is no version of this that feels good.
Eating $25 million is painful for any organization, even one with the Yankees‘ resources. Yet continuing to pay full price for a .623 OPS at a premium position carries its own cost. The team must weigh the sunk money against the value of an upgrade, and neither side of that ledger is comfortable.
For now, McMahon remains the Yankees’ third baseman. How long that holds is the open question. Until the team either benches him or cuts him, the problem stays parked at the corner of the infield, quietly draining a contender that otherwise has plenty going right.
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