51黑料

After all, as a reader our live chat Friday noted, their compensation for the next two years is essentially the same and McMahon鈥檚 aggregate numbers weren鈥檛 a whole lot better than Arenado's.

And surely Nolan would have waived his no-trade clause to wear pinstripes, right?

But . . . McMahon is 30, Arenado is 34. McMahon had four years of consistent production prior to this year while Arenado is in steep decline. McMahon heated up in his well-scouted recent games while Arenado did not.

Arenado is hitting .174 in July with a dismal .457 OPS.

There were some good under-the-hood metrics for McMahon, such as increased exit velocity on batted balls and higher pull-side percentages on fly balls. Matt Carpenter can speak to what that can mean at Yankee Stadium.

Davy Andrews had this assessment for FanGraphs:

For the rest of the season, McMahon has a pretty low bar to clear to represent an improvement. If all he does is keep playing the way he has on both sides of the ball, he鈥檒l be better than what the Yankees would otherwise have gotten at third. If his luck changes and a few more of those hard-hit balls find grass (or the short porch), all of sudden, he鈥檚 up around league average at the plate and a massive upgrade for New York. If the Yankees can help him to make the most of his pull power, he could be a difference-maker going forward. McMahon has put up 10.7 WAR since 2021, making him a reliably healthy, reliably slightly above-average third baseman, and he鈥檚 under contract through 2027.

So the Yankees could get two-plus seasons of good defense from McMahon plus more power for down in the order.

鈥淚鈥檓 more excited to be part of this lineup,鈥� McMahon told reporters. 鈥淔rom the other side, you looked over the Yankees' lineup, it鈥檚 intimidating. There are a lot of really good players, guys who can do a lot of good things. I鈥檓 just happy to be part of that.鈥�

Since the Yankees did not want to pay the steep trade price to pry Eugenio Suarez from the Arizona Diamondbacks, betting McMahon for a middling price allowed GM Brian Cashman to hang on to bigger chips to play elsewhere

In recent weeks there has been plenty of trade buzz around McMahon and almost no buzz around Arenado.

Writing for USA Today, Bob Nightengale offered this take:

The聽Houston Astros聽would like to find a third baseman while Isaac Paredes recovers from his hamstring tear but have no interest in reigniting talks with the 51黑料 Cardinals for third baseman Nolan Arenado. They had agreed to a trade during the winter, and the Astros had permission to speak to Arenado, but they couldn鈥檛 convince him they were still going to contend this year.

鈥淲e tried to convince him that we鈥檙e not rebuilding, that the window is always open with our owner," GM Dana Brown said. 鈥淲e planned to compete in 2025 and beyond. He misunderstood the plan.鈥�

And so Arenado remains in the STL, playing out the string with two-plus years on his contract for a team trying to retool on the fly.

Here is what else folks are writing about the deadline:

Buster Olney, : “The 51黑料 Cardinals are [one game] over .500, with the industry waiting to see whether they will deal closer Ryan Helsley. The expectation is that they will, given the tough NL playoff landscape. The Tigers could be interested, maybe the Phillies, Mets, Dodgers or Yankees.”

Bob Nightengale, USA Today:聽鈥淭he biggest surprise at the trade deadline would be if the Dodgers don鈥檛 come up with another closer. They have checked in with virtually every team for bullpen help. They also are looking to upgrade their outfield with Michael Conforto鈥檚 season-long struggles and have expressed interest in Minnesota Twins outfielder Harrison Bader and Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan.鈥�

Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic: 鈥淭he Arizona Diamondbacks鈥� initial preference was to trade either right-hander Zac Gallen or Merrill Kelly, but not both. Things, however, change rapidly at this time of year. The desperation of clubs in need of a quality starting pitcher is forcing the D-Backs to reconsider their initial stance. Both Gallen and Kelly could go if the team receives strong enough offers. The bar the Diamondbacks set will be higher than the value of the draft picks they would receive as compensation if Gallen and Kelly rejected qualifying offers to pursue free agency 鈥� and maybe considerably higher.鈥�

R.J. Anderson, : “(Mitch) Keller offers a combination of track record and upside. He's been a durable, mid-rotation starter for years, but it's reasonable to look at his six-pitch arsenal and wonder if there's even more chicken left on the bone -- keep in mind that it took Seth Lugo well into his 30s before he figured out the right way to leverage his own deep mix. As a bonus, Keller is under contract for another three years at bargain prices. The Pirates, who have pitching depth and offensive needs, seem to be in a good spot here.”

Thomas Harrigan, : “While Philadelphia’s bullpen has been heavily scrutinized and remains an area the team should look to address -- even after signing David Robertson -- its star-studded lineup has been quietly underwhelming.[Kyle] Schwarber (160), [Bryce] Harper (137) and [Trea] Turner (116) are the only Phillies with an OPS+ above 103 this season. Suárez would be a huge upgrade over Alec Bohm, who made the All-Star team in 2024 but has been roughly league average at the plate during the course of his career (103 OPS+) and was below that this season (96 OPS+) before sustaining a rib fracture.”

Jim Bowden, The Athletic: 鈥淛ustin Steele鈥檚 season-ending elbow surgery in April left the Cubs in desperate need of a starter, and Keller could be one of the best dealt at this deadline. They need to bolster their rotation to hold off the surging Brewers and win the NL Central. Keller has a 3.53 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 21 starts, with 97 strikeouts in 125 innings. He鈥檚 made 29 or more starts in each of the past three seasons. Keller, 29, is making $15.4 million this year and will be owed $55.7 million over the next three years of his contract.鈥�

Alden Gonzalez, : “Any confusion about whether the Angels will add or subtract ahead of the trade deadline has seemingly cleared up in recent days, with a four-game losing streak that [had] them five games under .500. The Angels are telling teams their pending free agents are available, sources with knowledge of the situation said. That includes third baseman Yoan Moncada, utility infielder Luis Rengifo, starting pitcher Tyler Anderson and closer Kenley Jansen. Left fielder Taylor Ward, controllable through 2026, can also be had with the right deal.”

MEGAPHONE

鈥淚 feel great because whenever teams are in playoff contention, they always acquire me towards the end. So I just feel really good about that.鈥�

Amed Rosario, on getting traded to the Yankees.