The New York Yankees’ middle infield played a major role in their elimination from the 2025 postseason at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the team is rumored to be considering some major changes to their middle-infield tandem.
Offseason Rumors Already Swirling Around Yankees’ Middle Infield
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
While Jazz Chisholm Jr. recorded the first 30/30 season for the Yankees since Alfonso Soriano in 2003, his defense at second base was not what the organization expected. That’s partly because the team could not decide where to play him consistently, but his defense was up and down regardless. Sources confirmed reports from SNY’s Andy Martino and the New York Post‘s Joel Sherman that the Yankees are internally exploring a potential trade involving Chisholm. With Chisholm set to become a free agent after the 2026 season, the expectation is that the Yankees will neither extend nor retain him beyond that point. Given this situation, it would make complete sense for the Yankees to sell high on a 31/31 player, with solid second base defense (plus 8 OAA, per Statcast) and acquire strong value in return.
https://t.co/W8tTRKa5kj Thoughts on what the Yankees should prioritize this offseason.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 10, 2025
Anthony Volpe
Anthony Volpe, meanwhile, continues to look like a bust and should not be a starter on a team with championship aspirations. Volpe went 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts in the AL Division Series — the highest strikeout rate in ALDS history. He endured another dreadful offensive season, serving as a black hole in the Yankees’ lineup for most of the year. Coupled with the major defensive regression he showed in 2025, Volpe was a net negative for the team.
Volpe’s MLB-leading 16th strikeout of the postseason. No other player has more than 11 pic.twitter.com/fNZapIqKdn
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) October 9, 2025
Volpe won the 2023 AL Gold Glove at shortstop, but 2025 saw the biggest regression of his career. According to Statcast, Volpe had a career-worst -6 outs above average in 2025. While no metric tracks this stat, a lot of Volpe’s struggles came in the highest leverage spots, with at least two botched plays at short leading to Yankees losses, which in turn cost them the AL East title.
Some boos for Volpe after he couldn’t come up with this play pic.twitter.com/l1GJKHMvKJ
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 29, 2025
The Yankees will likely try to salvage Volpe because moving on from him would symbolize the failure of a former first-round pick, but such loyalty is not in the best interest of either the player or the organization. Brian Cashman and the organization have propped Volpe up as the next Derek Jeter and have defended him at every turn of negativity he faced. The Yankees will now have to face the music about Volpe once again after a very rough season, both offensively and defensively, and it will be interesting to see how the Yankees respond this time around as the sample size increases.
From for sure double play to no outs from Volpe pic.twitter.com/idNAIqcg1b
— Talkin’ Yanks (@TalkinYanks) June 19, 2025
The Last Word
The Yankees are not far from reclaiming their spot as the bride of baseball rather than the perennial bridesmaid — but to get there, the front office must abandon its commitment to players who are underperforming or costing the team games through complacency.
Main Photo Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
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