Javier Sanoja played 119 games at third base for the Miami Marlins this season and hit .295 across 144 games overall. The New York Yankees‘ primary third baseman, Ryan McMahon, posted roughly zero wins above replacement. But a new trade pitch aimed at the Yankees and Marlins would replace the 31-year-old McMahon at the hot corner with the 24-year-old rising Miami star Sanoja.
The trade outline published Monday on Baseball Trade Values would send Dax Kilby, Luis García Jr., Elmer Rodríguez and Ben Hess to Miami for Sanoja, and it grades out as nearly even, according to the BTV trade board. Is that a fair price for an upgrade?
Sanoja, 24, was born in Maracay, Venezuela, debuted Sept. 7, 2024 and won a National League Gold Glove in 2025. His 2026 line stood at .295/.333/.458 with 11 home runs, 69 RBI, 11 steals and a 122 OPS+. Career, he is at .272/.312/.426 through 277 games, eligible for arbitration in 2028 and under control through 2031.
Sanoja Would Replace McMahon at Yankees Third Base
McMahon hit .213/.279/.357 with a 76 OPS+ in 124 games. A 2013 second-round pick of the Colorado Rockies and a 2024 All-Star, he arrived July 25, 2025, for pitchers Josh Grosz and Griffin Herring. He sat out Game 3 of the American League Division Series loss to Tampa Bay, with one year and $16 million left on his contract.
His glove, the reason New York wanted him, slid to zero outs above average, his lowest since 2020.
“It has reached the point where [manager Aaron] Boone must consider alternatives, but each has flaws,” The Athletic‘s Chris Kirschner wrote.
Sanoja produced 3.3 WAR this season against McMahon’s roughly zero.
The trade does not shed McMahon’s salary.
“Good luck getting any club to take on that salary,” Kirschner wrote. New York would send out García Jr.’s projected $11 million instead and add a player on a pre-arbitration salary.
Dax Kilby Leads New York Yankees Trade Package
Kilby, 19, is a shortstop the Yankees drafted 39th overall in 2025 and signed for $2,797,500. He hit .290/.438/.435 in 51 Single-A games after hamstring injuries cost him 3 1/2 months, and MLB Pipeline ranks him 78th among all prospects.
“We’re actually going through a pretty big swing change,” Kilby said, according to MLB.com senior writer Jim Callis.
García, 26, was born in New York, debuted for Washington in 2020 and came to the Yankees Aug. 2 for four right-handers, according to ESPN.
“He rakes,” Boone said, as quoted by ESPN. García hit .277/.309/.521 with 30 home runs and 92 RBI between both clubs.
Rodríguez, 23, a Puerto Rico native and 2021 fourth-round pick of the Boston Red Sox, went 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts after his April 29 debut. Hess, 24, a 2024 first-round pick out of Alabama, posted a 4.45 ERA in 16 Double-A starts before landing on the 60-day injured list Aug. 20, according to Baseball Savant.
The board values Sanoja at 53.1 and the package at 55.1, with Kilby at 30.4, Rodríguez at 12.6, Hess at 7.9 and García at 4.2. Kilby alone accounts for 55 percent of that total, and he is 19 with a swing still under construction.
Yankees Trade Pitch Lands 24-Year-Old Gold Glover to Replace Ryan McMahon