With free agency less than a month away, New York Yankees fans are wondering what the team will do at third base in 2027. Third base was not great this season for manager Aaron Boone, as Ryan McMahon struggled throughout the 162-game marathon at the plate and on defense.
The 31-year-old infielder slashed .213/.279/.357 with 11 home runs, 41 RBIs, and an OPS of .635 in 124 games. Then in the postseason, McMahon hit a mediocre .143 with a double and a .476 OPS.
Defensively, it wasn't much better for McMahon this season. He produced a .960 fielding percentage–league average (.958) at third base, recorded nine errors, and minus-3 Defensive Runs Saved Above Average.
When McMahon joined the Yankees at the 2025 trade deadline (30 games), he had a .971 fielding percentage, four errors, and 7 Defensive Runs Saved Above Average, which illustrates how his defense has fallen off.
If it were up to fans, they would love for general manager Brian Cashman to trade McMahon, who has one year left on his contract, before he hits free agency in 2028, and go after another third baseman this offseason, such as Teruaki Sato.
However, it may be hard to find a suitor for a third baseman making $16 million in 2027 and who was a net negative at the plate and on defense. Luckily for the Yankees, the St. Louis Cardinals could be a perfect match for McMahon.
Yankees could consider sending Ryan McMahon to the St. Louis Cardinals
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch dropped an interesting nugget in his recent mailbag, as a reader asked about third base and mentioned Alec Bohm, a pending free agent.
Goold said that the Cardinals "are open to a short-term starter at third base" and added, "also will spend some time looking at trades for players who could fit multi-year needs at a few positions, and third could be in that discussion." The Cardinals beat writer also emphasized that whoever this player is will be short-term to create space for a player in the minor leagues.
This season, the Cardinals had Ramon Urias, Cesar Pierto, Jose Fermin, Thomas Saggese, Blaze Jordan, and Nolan Gorman play at the hot corner. Simply put, St. Louis didn’t have a steady option there.
Could McMahon be that steady option for the Cardinals? He has one year left at a hefty price, which the Yankees might have to eat a bit of to move him. However, it could be a nice change of scenery for McMahon. Before McMahon was traded to New York, he was a career .240 hitter with the Colorado Rockies for nine seasons.
Now, his defense in Colorado left much to be desired, but you could count on him to make an impact with the bat.
This season with the Yankees has shown us that it’s tough to depend on the veteran third baseman to have a competitive at-bat. His hard-hit rate dropped from 50.5 in 2025 to 45.0.
What could Yankees possibly get in return from the Cardinals?
That leaves us with this question: what could the Yankees get in return for a player like McMahon, whose production declined in 2026? Maybe they could ask St. Louis for catcher Pedro Pages, since they have absurd depth at that spot.
Pages is 28 years old, has two minor league options available, is arbitration-eligible, and could give the Yankees something defensively as a backup behind Austin Wells. He slashed .217/.275/.312 with six doubles, four home runs, 12 RBI, and a .588 OPS (career-low) this season.
His batting average has dipped over the years, from .238 in 2024 to .230 in 2025, and .217 in 2026. That said, his caught-stealing percentage this season was 31%, his framing was ranked in the 75th percentile (3), and his pop time ranked in the 73rd percentile (1.90 seconds), per Baseball Savant.
A Wells-Pages duo wouldn’t be bad considering what we saw from both Ali Sanchez and J.C. Escarra this season.
However, as it pertains to McMahon, the Cardinals seem like an intriguing spot for him, and his departure would let the Yankees go after Sato this offseason or another third baseman who will be an improvement offensively and defensively.
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