Pros & Cons of Potential Yankees-Isaac Paredes Trade to Solidify Third Base

It's clear that the New York Yankees need help at third base.

The Bronx Bombers haven't found an option that sticks at the hot corner, and their acquisition of Ryan McMahon at the 2025 trade deadline may have been their biggest whiff yet. Banking on his superb defensive metrics and improving offense with a change of scenery, the Yankees instead saw regression in both areas. McMahon's offense has been a disaster, and his defense hasn't been anywhere near as advertised.

As they go back to the drawing board, the Yankees will probably look at the trade market once again to get a third baseman. Outside of Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato, who is expected to be posted this winter, free-agent options at third base are very slim.

However, one player the Yankees could target is Isaac Paredes, who has spent the past two seasons with the Houston Astros.

Why the Yankees should trade for Isaac Paredes

The Yankees are certainly familiar with Paredes due to his time with the Tampa Bay Rays, where he played from 2022 to 2024. Paredes, 27, notably hit 31 home runs as a Ray in 2023.

But the Yankees probably wouldn't be looking at Paredes for his power. What makes him an intriguing option is his approach at the plate. Paredes boasts a unique combination of discipline and contact skills.

In addition to hitting 27 doubles and 25 home runs this season, Paredes lowered his strikeout rate to 13.4% and his whiff rate to 14.7%. Paredes has always been a difficult batter to strike out, but both these rates are career lows. Meanwhile, he drew 71 walks in 659 plate appearances for a 10.8% walk rate, marking the fifth consecutive season with a walk rate over 10%. This helped Paredes produce a career-high .360 on-base percentage.

Isaac Paredes puts the @Astros on the board first! pic.twitter.com/CYw8IBb9A1
— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2026

The Yankees love adding hitters with good plate discipline, with the fifth-highest walk rate among teams at 9.5%, yet they also had the fourth-highest strikeout percentage at 24.7%. Bringing in Paredes further improves the lineup's ability to generate walks and addresses the team's Achilles heel of striking out or putting up unproductive at-bats.

From a salary standpoint, Paredes has a $13.35 million club option for 2027, which is a very respectable figure for his production. Consequently, he could enter the open market if the Astros decline the option, but that seems unlikely given that he produced a career-best 4.4 fWAR in 2026.

Why the Yankees shouldn't trade for Isaac Paredes

While Paredes brings attractive advantages to the table, the Yankees still have some weaknesses to consider. Some of the downsides are about how well the veteran would fit into the lineup.

Paredes' defense isn't the best at the hot corner, with a -1 Fielding Run Value, -3 Outs Above Average, and -7 Defensive Runs Saved, per Baseball Savant. While McMahon's defense at third was disappointing (0 OAA, -1 FRV, and -3 DRS), Paredes looks like a further defensive downgrade.

However, the bigger concern about Paredes is his extreme pull-happy approach. While his pull rate in 2026 went down (48.9% in 2026, 57.6% in 2025) and he produced more batted balls up the middle (28.5%) and the other way (22.7%), he also produced less hard contact (27.7% in 2026, 28.6% in 2025) with an increase in softly hit balls (20.6%).

Fortunately, Paredes lowered his ground ball rate (27.4%, down from 30.9%) and increased his line drive (24.1%) and fly ball (48.4%) rates, but he still grounded into 16 double plays.

As a right-handed batter, Paredes' extreme pull tendencies don't work well at Yankee Stadium, which is short down the left field line but notoriously deep in left-center.

That pull-happy approach allowed Paredes to fully exploit Daikin Park's Crawford Boxes in left field. But he would rarely (if ever) be able to take advantage of Yankee Stadium's short porch in right, while he'd be victimized by many warning track outs in "Death Valley".

Isaac Paredes has hit 100 home runs in his career

He hasn’t gone oppo ONCE 🤯 pic.twitter.com/kAiSm09MRN
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 5, 2026

Even with his on-base skills and low strikeout totals, Paredes' pull power is one of his biggest selling points, and it could be negated by playing 81 games in the Bronx. The underlying data also indicates his offense could regress, so putting him in a ballpark that plays far less to his strengths carries a lot of risk.

And of course, there's no guarantee the Astros would even consider trading one of their key contributors to the Yankees. These teams have been rivals for almost a decade, so if Houston doesn't outright spurn the Bronx Bombers, they may ask for a price that is far more than what the Yankees would be comfortable paying, especially for a player with notable risks.

The verdict

Ultimately, Paredes should be the Yankees' second choice when looking for a third baseman this offseason. Their optimal target should be Sato, but he also has a few concerns that don't make him a sure thing.

Sato's left-handed power is a perfect fit for Yankee Stadium. However, he also carries defensive questions, and his plate discipline is a work in progress. Given how much the Yankees have struggled offensively with a lineup full of high-strikeout bats, Sato might exacerbate that issue further if he doesn't adapt well to MLB pitching.

Paredes, despite his own defensive question marks and his right-handed pull power being at the mercy of Yankee Stadium, has the bat-to-ball skills that make New York's lineup less polarized.

But he also brings great plate discipline to further increase traffic on the basepaths. The Yankees need more batters who are difficult outs for pitchers (even if they don't go yard), and Paredes is one of those tough outs.

At the very least, Paredes should be an improvement over McMahon, which isn't a very high bar to clear.

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