Yankees get big update on 39 home run slugger to replace Ryan McMahon originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The New York Yankees have a strong case for being the most interesting team in Major League Baseball to watch this offseason, though it’s going to be a lot different than usual because of the expected lockout at the beginning of December.
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With the Yankees having some time to make moves prior to that, landing a guy like Teruaki Sato prior to the lockout, with his posting window being just 45 days, could put New York in a very strong position to make some moves after the lockout finishes.
According to the latest report from Ken Rosenthal, there’s a sense that the Yankees could use him at third base, but he also has the possibility to play another infield position, and he expects the Yankees to be a fit and involved in his market.
“The Yankees probably could use him most at third base,” Rosenthal said, H/T NJ.com.
“Ryan McMahon has one more year on his contract and they could easily replace him and maybe send him somewhere else, do something else with him. So [Sato] is a fit, I expect the Yankees to be involved in the Sato market.”
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Sato is going to have the same type of questions that guys like Munetaka Murakami had coming over to America, and a lot of that is just focused on the difference in competition between the NPB and Major League Baseball.
However, all he did was swing it at a ridiculous level during his time in Japan, so there’s no reason to believe that he’s going to come to America and struggle.
In 2026, he slashed .306/.383/.609 with a ridiculous 39 home runs and 106 RBIs.
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