On Friday July 25, 2025, MLB insider Mark Feinsand reported that the New York Yankees are acquiring IF Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for two pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz.
McMahon, 30, was an All-Star in 2024. His 2025 numbers don’t jump off the page; he is hitting only .217 with 16 home runs and 35 RBI.
But the nine-year MLB veteran who has spent his entire year in Colorado is going to likely benefit immensely from a change of scenery. The Rockies haven’t made the playoffs since 2018.
McMahon has also been performing significantly better in the last month and a half. Since June 7, 2025, McMahon has 10 home runs and an .819 OPS.
He’s not of fellow trade candidate Eugenio Suarez’s caliber offensively, but he came cheap and he’s still going to prove to be a massive upgrade over Oswald Peraza at the plate. Hitting in the prolific Yankees lineup headlined by Aaron Judge may also prove to be beneficial for McMahon.
The Yankees also will have McMahon under team control for two more years after this season, until 2027, on a bargain contract. They are taking on the entirety of his remaining contract, but will pay him only $4.5 million in 2025 and $16 million each in 2026 and 2027.
Shades Of DJ LeMahieu
This deal for Ryan McMahon may remind Yankees fans of another recent deal for an All-Star Rockies infielder, DJ LeMahieu.
The Yankees signed LeMahieu in 2019, luring him away from a Rockies team that had made the playoffs back to back seasons in 2017 and 2018.
LeMahieu was immediately an MVP finalist in both 2019 and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. In just those two seasons combined, LeMahieu hit .336 with 36 home runs and 129 RBI. He also won the silver slugger award both of those seasons and was an All-Star in 2019.
LeMahieu didn’t hit over .300 after that, but he did win a Gold Glove award at second base in 2022.
Overall in his 7 years in New York he hit .278 with 77 home runs and 314 RBI. He never returned to his 2019 and 2020 form, and was designated for assignment by the Yankees earlier this month on July 10, 2025. But bringing over LeMahieu was still a big win for the Yankees, all things considered, even though the end of his New York tenure was unceremonious.
McMahon doesn’t hit for average at the same prolific clip that LeMahieu did, but he has hit 20+ homers in each of his last 5 full seasons and will almost certainly do so again in 2025. He also played in 150 or more games each of the last four seasons from 2021-24.
He’s a reliable, everyday first baseman with above average power and All-Star potential.
Who Else Could the Yankees Target?
The Yankees need a starting pitcher like they need air.
After Clarke Schmidt and Gerrit Cole suffered season ending injuries, that became an absolute must. Expect the Yankees to shoot for the stars and try to get someone like Joe Ryan.
But even if they can’t get Ryan, they’ll target a reliable, durable innings eater like Mitch Keller or Merrill Kelly. If they want to make a deep playoff run, they can’t let this deadline pass without getting someone.
The Yankees also need bullpen help. A sixth or seventh inning arm who can be the bridge to Luke Weaver and Devin Williams would be perfect, especially if that is a left handed arm.
What do you think about the Ryan McMahon acquisition, Yankees fans? Who do you think they will go after next?
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