When the New York Yankees engineered a deadline trade for Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, it was primarily for the purpose of shoring up their third base defense, which had been in flux all season with six players occupying the hot corner for at least 10 games — but none more than 49 — before McMahon’s arrival on July 26.
McMahon gave the Yankees the defensive upgrade they were looking for, recording seven defensive runs saved in the 54 games he played at third for New York, according to FanGraphs statistics. But his performance on the offensive side of the ball was another question altogether.
In 185 plate appearances for the Yankees in the regular season, McMahon managed just a .641 OPS and only 0.6 fWAR (wins above replacement as calculated by FanGraphs). His offensive fWAR number was an abysmal -3.4.
At the same time, the Yankees owe McMahon $16 million in each of the two upcoming seasons. With the idea of getting the Yankees better value for their dollar, analyst Jordan Leandre on Monday outlined a trade proposal that would ship McMahon to the Los Angeles Angels while bringing back a hard-throwing reliever who could turn into a high-ceiling reclamation project for New York.
“McMahon doesn’t have a ton of value, especially with two years and $32 million remaining on his deal, Leandre wrote in an analysis for Just Baseball. “However, if the Yankees eat $10 million of his contract, that becomes two years at $11 million average annual value. As a result, it’s a much more enticing contract for a good defensive third baseman with power.”
Assuming that the Yankees would be willing to pay McMahon $10 million not to play for them, Leandre suggests that the Yankees should use the trade to address their need in the bullpen.
“The Yankees in return get Ryan Zeferjahn, a right-hander who once looked like a rising star in the Angels bullpen,” Leandre wrote. “Zeferjahn averages 97.5 mph on his fastball and his sweeper is electric. His fastball also way underperformed expected data, with a .354 wOBA versus .299 expected.”
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With the losses of Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Mark Leiter Jr., the Yankees’ bullpen has holes to fill in the middle innings. Zeferjahn, a 27-year-old third-round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2019, made his major league debut in Aug. 2024 after a trade to the Angels for pitcher Luis Garcia.
“The Yankees have a history of taking toolsy relievers and unlocking their full potential,” Leandre noted, while also recognizing that the trade would create a hole at third base for New York, the exact problem last year’s trade for McMahon was designed to solve.
Leandre suggests the Yankees sign 30-year-old former Angels third baseman Yoan Moncada, who after signing as a 20-year-old out of Cuba with the Red Sox in 2015 for a staggering $63 million, rose within one year to become baseball’s overall No. 1 prospect in the Baseball America rankings.
Moncada has never quite lived up to that billing. After a brief and frustrating debut with the Red Sox in 2016 when he struck out 12 times in 20 plate appearances while managing just four hits, Boston included him in a deal with the Chicago White Sox for left-handed ace Chris Sale.
Moncada has since gone on to hit 105 home runs with a slightly above-average .758 OPS in an injury-riddled career that has seen the switch-hitting infielder get into only 831 games over 10 seasons.
“He’s generally a good baseball player when he’s actually playing baseball,” Leandre wrote. “Moncada’s Pull Air rate in 2025 was 26.3 percent, making his lefty swing a potential dream fit in the Bronx.”
Even though Moncada has never lived up to his billing as baseball’s top prospect a decade ago, he would — assuming the Yankees can keep him relatively healthy — provide an offensive upgrade in their lineup, which is something the Bronx Bombers could use after failing to sign any of the top free agent hitters on the market this offseason.
After shedding most of McMahon’s salary in the Just Baseball trade proposal, the Yankees would take on an economical option in Moncada, who made $5 million last year from the Angels, but whose market value is estimated by Spotrac at just $4.5 million for the season this time around.
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