MLB Mock Blockbuster: New York Yankees Acquire Ryan McMahon, Fix Their Infield Problem

You want parity, you’ve got parity.

As we approach the MLB trading deadline, 18 of the league’s 30 teams—that’s over half, kids—have 50 or more wins, the only time in league history that that many squads have simultaneously hit the big five-oh on or before July 22.

The New York Yankees are one of those 18, having racked up 55 dubs, which leaves them five games behind the MLB-leading Milwaukee Brewers. Divisionally speaking, they sit four games back from the AL East beast Toronto Blue Jays, and Wild Card-wise, they’re two games up on the second-place Seattle Mariners.

So the Bronx Bombers are almost there.

But the team—not to mention all those Big Apple baseball nerds—have zero interest in almost there. No, they want there there?

And shoring up the third base position would damn sure help.

Here in 2025, the Yanks’ hot corner has been, in a word, hot garbage. (Okay, that’s two words, but you get the point.)

All of which is why it’s time to give the Colorado Rockies a jingle.

Like the Yanks’ third base committee, the entire Rockies franchise is hot garbage—if they finish the season at their current .240 winning percentage, they’d be the second-worst team in MLB history—so an infusion of youth, and an ex-fusion (is that a word?) of vets makes sense.

Enter Ryan McMahon.

The 30-year-old third baseman’s batting average is in the Pereza/Cabrera range—we’re talking .218—but he’s parked 15 homers and has driven in 32 runs, flashes of oomph that could mean the difference between a Wild Card berth and a division title for the Yankees. The fact that he’d be sharing a lineup with Aaron Judge and Paul Goldschmidt rather than Brenton Doyle and Michael Toglia would likely allow him to see some more managable pitches.

So maybe the Yanks’ GM Brian Cashman should give Rockies GM Bill Schmidt a jingle and offer this:

New York Yankees receive:

Colorado Rockies receive:

New York might loathe to ship out Lombard, but the chances of this deal getting across the finish without Colorado receiving a theoretical infielder-of-the-future are doubtful. As for Selvidge, he’s solid lefty, and man, could the 2028 Rockies use a solid lefty. (The 2025 Rockies shouldn’t even bother.)

And while McMahon—who would be under team control until 2027—ain’t exactly Jose Ramirez, his elite fielding would be a huge asset in New York, and those 240-ish at-bats might help drag Aaron Judge et al to the Wild Card round…or even to an AL East title.