Yankees acquire Ryan McMahon from Rockies to fill glaring third base hole

The Yankees found their third baseman in the Rocky Mountains.

The Bronx Bombers landed Ryan McMahon from the Rockies in exchange for two prospects to fill their glaring hole at third base, The Post’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman confirmed.

The Yankees are sending Colorado lefty pitching prospect Griffin Herring, ranked eighth in their system by MLB.com, and righty minor league pitcher Josh Grosz, ranked 21st, according to Heyman.

While the Yankees had been previously linked to Diamondbacks star lugger Eugenio Suarez, Heyman reported Friday there was a gap in value between the parties.

McMahon, a 2024 All-Star, gives the Yankees a proven commodity at the hot corner, although he’s never posted posted an OPS above .779 despite playing at Coors Field for nine seasons.


Colorado Rockies player #24 at bat.
Ryan McMahon is headed to The Bronx. Getty Images

Third base has been a noticeable shortcoming of this year’s Yankees roster, with the released DJ LeMahieu and youngsters Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas providing little relief.

LeMahieu struggled on both sides of the ball, while Peraza and Vivas have been two of the worst hitters in the majors this season.


Colorado Rockies players celebrating a win.
Ryan McMahon is going from the worst team in baseball to a playoff race. AP

McMahon, 30, is making $12 million this season and still has two years and $32 million — $16 million each season — remaining on his contract.

He’s hitting .217 with a .717 OPS this year, to go along with 16 homers and 35 RBIs. For his career, McMahon owns a .743 OPS and a .240 average.

McMahon is plus-defender at the hot corner, with FanGraphs grading him plus-four in both defensive runs saved and outs above average.

The Post’s Joel Sherman reported earlier Friday the Yankees are prioritizing pitching at this deadline, meaning there could be more moves coming to foritfy the rotation and bullpen.

With the Yankees keeping their top prospects in this deal, it provides them more ammunition in their search to land at least one arm.

Herring went 7-3 with a 1.17 ERA in Single-A this season, striking out 102 batters in 89 1/3 innings.

Grosz notched a 4-8 record with a 4.14 ERA across 15 starts and one relief outing.


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