The Yankees will give Ryan McMahon some time at shortstop during Spring Training

Aaron Boone released a fairly interesting nugget of information regarding the Yankees’ shortstop room as he will be giving Ryan McMahon some reps there during Spring Training.

He’ll be considered a potential backup option if the team deems his shortstop defense as palatable, but the premise behind this is to see if he could be a real option there.

This would not be with the intent of starting him there while Anthony Volpe is down full-time, but with Jose Caballero pushed from the bench to the starting lineup and Oswaldo Cabrera coming off of a serious ankle injury, they need options.

McMahon has played just three innings at the position in his MLB career, but he does have extended experience at second base and is an elite defensive third baseman.

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Yankees Will Test Ryan McMahon’s Shortstop Abilities in Spring Training

An elite defensive third baseman in his career with the Rockies and Yankees, Ryan McMahon does have experience around the diamond playing second base and first base a good bit in his MLB career.

He has played a little bit of shortstop, but the idea here would be looking at McMahon’s elite corner infield defense and seeing if he can be an emergency option with Anthony Volpe on the IL due to an offseason labrum surgery.

Oswaldo Cabrera and Max Scheumann are potential options off the bench who could play shortstop if they make the team, but the Yankees could get that out of McMahon who provides a little more power with his bat.

Cabrera would likely have a safer job on this roster if he wasn’t coming off of a significant ankle injury which ended his 2025 season in May during a road trip to Seattle.

He has Minor League options and might need to shake off some rust in Triple-A as the team is choosing to slow play him in Spring Training games easrly on.

McMahon will still be a primary third baseman and when Anthony Volpe returns, the Yankees will likely have enough coverage at the position to avoid using him there.

That being said, if he performs well defensively there and their other shortstop options scuffle, then the Yankees could get creative during the regular season.