The Yankees have a clear offseason problem, and it starts at third base. Ryan McMahon has not given them the answer they needed, and with his bat falling apart and his defense at the position not holding up much better, New York is staring at a tough call. His $16 million salary for next season makes any trade scenario even trickier, and at this point, the more realistic outcome may be the Yankees cutting him and taking the hit.
That leaves the Bronx Bombers searching for help at the hot corner, and the options in North America are far from ideal. Jose Caballero and Anthony Volpe are both in the mix, but Caballero did not look especially sharp there, while Volpe does not bring the experience or arm strength the spot demands.
A trade could bring someone like Isaac Paredes into the picture, though it is unclear whether the Astros would even entertain moving him, especially to an American League rival. The free-agent pool is just as thin.
Alec Bohm stands out as one of the better names available, but he was worth only 0.2 fWAR in 2026, and Bo Bichette is unlikely to reach the market after his down season with the Mets.
If the Yankees want the best third-base option available this winter, they may need to look beyond North America. On Monday, the Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball announced that Teruaki Sato will be posted during the winter, opening the door for MLB teams to pursue him. The 27-year-old left-handed hitter just won the Central League Triple Crown after hitting .306 with 39 home runs, 106 RBI and a .991 OPS.
The Yankees have already made their interest known. Scouts were sent to watch Sato during the NPB postseason, and the fit is obvious on paper. A left-handed power bat with that kind of pop would look right at home in Yankee Stadium, especially with the Short Porch in right field waiting for him.
What makes Sato even more appealing is the way his bat has steadily climbed in NPB’s pitching-friendly environment. Outside of a dip in 2024, when he posted a .766 OPS, his production has gone up year after year.
He followed a .749 OPS in 2021 with marks of .798 in 2022 and .837 in 2023. After that down 2024, he bounced back with 40 home runs and a .924 OPS in 2025, then produced his best season yet in 2026.
This past season was the first time Sato hit over .300, and he also set a career high with 68 walks. His strikeout rate dropped to 26.7%, his lowest since 2023. Compared with a free-agent class full of third basemen on the back nine of their careers, Sato’s upside stands out.
Still, he is not a clean fit. His defense remains a real question, even after winning a Mitsui Golden Glove in 2025.
This year, he posted a .937 fielding percentage and committed 18 errors. He can play right field, but a move to first base would not make much sense for the Yankees, who already have Ben Rice and/or Luis Garcia Jr. there.
The other concern is plate discipline. Even with the improved walk total and lower strikeout rate in 2026, his strikeouts are expected to rise once he gets to MLB and has to adjust to a different environment. The source points to Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox as an example, noting that he already came with strikeout issues and still stayed productive because of a 16.6% walk rate and elite power despite striking out 35.4% of the time.
The Yankees already have plenty of swing-and-miss in the lineup, but the bigger issue has been the lack of on-base production from too many of those hitters. If Sato can keep the power and pair it with enough walks to offset the strikeouts, he could still be a net positive for the offense.
There is risk here, and the Yankees will not be alone. The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets are expected to be in the sweepstakes as well.
Even so, third base is the club’s biggest weakness, and if the Yankees want to put a true contender on the field in the Aaron Judge era, they need to upgrade everywhere. Judge has already said he wants the front office to go "all-in" on improving the roster, and landing Sato would be a major step in that direction.
In Other News...
Yankees Just Lost A Key Coach In A Troubling Development Blow
The Yankees are losing one of the more quietly important figures in their development pipeline, as the Astros have hired Spencer Medick away from Triple-A to become their new director of pitching. Medick had been in the organization since 2022 and spent time working with Cam Schlittler during the right-handers rise through the minors, a stretch that helped shape one of the most encouraging young pitching stories in the system.
Schlittlers 2026 season only sharpened the interest around that work, finishing with a 1.95 ERA, the lowest qualifying mark for the Yankees since 1978. So while the move is being made at the staff level rather than on the major league roster, it still lands as a meaningful development loss for a club that has leaned heavily on continuity in its pitching instruction. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Boone Just Made Jazz Chisholms Yankees Future Feel Clear
Jazz Chisholm Jr.s first full run in pinstripes never quite settled into the kind of season the Yankees were hoping for, and it ended with more questions than answers. His uneven 2026 performance was already under the microscope before a costly throwing error in the ALDS only added to the scrutiny, making the fall feel even steeper for a player brought in to bring energy and production.
Then Aaron Boone said the quiet part out loud. The Yankees manager made it clear that Chisholms approach has rubbed him the wrong way, pointing specifically to the kind of behavior that can grate inside a clubhouse, and the comments only sharpened the sense that Chisholm may not be part of the teams long-term plans. For a player whose talent still makes him intriguing, the issue now is whether the Yankees see enough fit beyond the flashes to keep the relationship going. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Fifth Starter Battle Comes Down To Upside Or Reliability
The Yankees have plenty to like at the top of their rotation, with recent All-Stars like Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodn and Max Fried headlining a group that also includes Cam Schlittler. The question now is less about star power than about how to round out the back end, where the fifth-starter spot has turned into a familiar kind of camp debate: do the Yankees lean into upside, or do they choose the arm they trust most to take the ball and keep them in games?
Ryan Weathers looked like a real candidate after a solid 2026 season, but the forearm injury he suffered late in the year complicates his case. Will Warren, meanwhile, brings the kind of durability teams value in April and beyond, having topped 150 innings in each of the past two seasons, even if his command can wander at times. For a club built to expect excellence from the front of the rotation, the final choice may come down to whether it wants the ceiling of a comeback candidate or the steadier profile of a workhorse who does not always have perfect feel. [Read more 🡒]