For the Yankees, the third-base conversation has started to look less like a choice between good options and more like a decision about which flaws they can live with in October.
Ryan McMahon’s bat has been a major problem all year. He owns a 73 wRC+, and the numbers around him are rough enough to make the case feel pretty simple. According to Baseball Reference’s Katie Sharp on X, 232 players have logged more than 350 plate appearances this season, and McMahon is the only one with an OBP below .280 and a strikeout rate above 29%.
That kind of production would be hard to carry even if the glove were carrying the load. But McMahon’s defense has slipped too.
He posted a 7 OAA and 10 DRS last season, then dropped to a 1 OAA at third and -2 DRS this year. So the one trait that was supposed to justify the lineup spot has been far less convincing.
That opens the door for José Caballero, even if he has not exactly forced the issue with the bat. Caballero has an 86 wRC+ and a .666 OPS this season, so the Yankees are not choosing between an impact hitter and a light hitter. They are choosing between two players who have struggled offensively, with Caballero offering something McMahon simply does not: speed.
Caballero flashed that against the Tampa Bay Rays. In the day game of Tuesday’s day-night doubleheader, he swiped second and third with ease.
The Yankees did not cash him in, but he still created the kind of pressure that can change an inning. That’s the point.
Caballero can turn a routine at-bat into a threat.
And if the Yankees are looking strictly at defense, McMahon does not separate himself enough to make the bat worth it. Caballero has a -1 OAA and 1 DRS at third, which means the gap at the hot corner is not wide enough to make McMahon an automatic choice. It would essentially be one weak bat replacing another, with Caballero bringing more athleticism and a real stolen-base element.
That matters even more with the Red Sox expected to throw an amalgamation of lefties in the Wild Card series. McMahon’s split-proof struggles make him a tough fit in that matchup, and Caballero looks like the cleaner option to play every game in the series.
At this point, the Yankees may not need to ask which player is better in a vacuum. They need to ask which one gives them a better chance to create something in October. On that question, Caballero has the edge.
In Other News...
Yankees May Be Preparing A Playoff Infield Change Fans Saw Coming
The Yankees have spent enough time looking for answers at third base that Aaron Boone is now openly floating one of the cleaner possibilities. Boone said Anthony Volpe will probably get a look there sometime this week, a move that lines up with what the organization has seen before from the shortstop and with the modest offensive uptick he has shown compared with Ryan McMahon. With home-field advantage already locked in for the AL Wild Card Series, New York has a little breathing room to test whether a postseason adjustment can sharpen the infield before October starts in earnest.
Volpe has handled third base before in Triple-A, so this would not be a blind experiment so much as a practical shuffle with real stakes attached. The bigger question is how the Yankees want their best defensive and offensive alignment to look when the games begin to count, and whether this kind of late-week change is the first sign of a more aggressive playoff setup. Boone has not finalized anything yet, but the timing makes it clear the team is at least considering a different shape on the left side of the infield. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Just Entered An Ownership Era Fans Never Saw Coming
Major League Baseballs latest tweak to its ownership rules has given the Yankees a new kind of headline, one rooted less in the lineup card than in the boardroom. With private equity now allowed to own up to 20 percent of a club, up from 15 percent before, Apollo Global Capital moved quickly enough to buy a 16 percent minority stake in the Yankees for $2.6 billion, a deal that puts the franchises value above $12 billion.
For a team whose identity has long been tied to the Steinbrenner family, the bigger picture matters just as much as the price tag. The family still holds just over 60 percent of the club, keeping control in familiar hands even as outside capital becomes a bigger part of the modern baseball landscape. What this shift means for the Yankees day to day is still unfolding, but the sale alone shows how far the financial power structure around the sport has moved. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Triple-A Era Ended With A Twist Fans Never Saw Coming
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders went out with a little bit of everything in their final game under that name, edging Jacksonville 6-5 in 10 innings on Sept. 19. In a fittingly strange finish for a longtime Yankees Triple-A affiliate, catcher Edinson Duran wound up taking on pitching duty and was credited with the win, giving the club one last memorable night before the name change.
The scheduled season finale the next day never got played, with rain and unplayable field conditions bringing the curtain down early on the RailRiders era. The franchise is set to rebrand for the 2027 season, which means the Yankees' top minor league stop has now closed one chapter before the next one officially begins. [Read more 🡒]