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The New York Yankees are suddenly in danger of giving up their division lead as the season reaches its midway point.
After 80 games, the Yankees have seen their first-place American League East standing shrink to just half a game over the surging Tampa Bay Rays. Suddenly, the Yankees bats have gone relatively quiet and the team is running out of time to make an upgrade with the trade deadline looming.
As the team considers external additions to improve the offense, it’s clear they will consider an infielder. The team has not gotten much production out of second baseman DJ LeMahieu after he returned from injury this season — he’s slashed just .240/.313/.327 so far. In the latest news on the veteran, he was benched against the division rival Baltimore Orioles, suggesting the team can adjust to life without him.
Sports Illustrated’s Nick Selbe has predicted the Yankees will land Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies as a replacement.
“McMahon is on pace to hit 20 homers for the sixth straight full season, an impressive accomplishment that’s somewhat lessened by playing half of his games at Coors Field – despite that fact, he’s never registered as an above-average bat by wRC+,” Selbe added. “Still, McMahon’s season statistics are about as consistent as they can get, and he could fill multiple spots around the infield for some playoff team.”
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McMahon signed a $70 million extension with the Rockies in 2022 so the team might have to pay off some of his remaining salary to make this transaction work. But the Yankees have been linked to McMahon repeatedly since he was named an All-Star last year, as they are in clear need of a third base upgrade.
Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
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