The easiest thing to forget in a winter full of rumors is how rare Jazz Chisholm Jr. actually is.
Second base is not a position overflowing with stars, and the New York Yankees happen to employ one who can impact a game in almost every way imaginable. Power. Speed. Range. Presence. Chisholm checks all of it, which is why the idea of the Yankees willingly moving on from him feels counterintuitive on the surface.
But baseball rarely lives on the surface.
A rare player at a thin position
Chisholm’s 2025 season was the kind front offices chase for years. He became a 30-30 player for the first time, finishing with 31 home runs and 31 stolen bases, despite missing the entire month of May with an oblique strain. Stretch that timeline out and it is not hard to imagine how close he came to 40-40 territory.
The underlying numbers back it up. A 126 wRC+ from a middle infielder is borderline elite, especially when paired with the range he provides at second base. Yes, the errors show up from time to time. That is part of the package. But the overall defensive value remains a net positive, and the offensive ceiling more than offsets the occasional miscue.
This is not a complementary player. This is a centerpiece, especially for a Yankees lineup that needs athleticism and thump from the middle of the diamond.
Why the rumors won’t go away
So why does Chisholm’s name keep circulating?
Because the league understands leverage, and the New York Yankees understand timing. Chisholm is entering his final year of arbitration, and while that does not preclude an extension, there is nothing imminent. Teams know that stars nearing free agency represent both opportunity and risk, depending on which side of the table you are sitting on.
For the Yankees, the math is complicated. They could extend him. They could ride it out and attempt to re-sign him after the 2026 campaign. Or, if the market tilts far enough in their favor, they could cash in while his value is peaking.
None of those options make the Yankees reckless. They make them realistic.
Boone’s comments tell the story
Aaron Boone did little to quiet the noise, even while making his expectations clear.
“I do,” Boone said when asked if he expects Chisholm to be on the roster for 2026. Then came the qualifier every front office lives by. “But again, you never know what’s going to happen as teams are maneuvering their rosters.”
That is not a warning shot. It is an acknowledgment of how the business works. Boone plans on Chisholm being right in the middle of the lineup, because that is where he belongs. At the same time, the Yankees are not blind to how aggressively other teams would pursue a player like him.
The Yankees’ real position
The New York Yankees are not shopping Jazz Chisholm Jr., and they should not be. Players who can change games with one swing and one sprint are not easily replaced, especially at second base.
But the Yankees are also not slamming the phone down if it rings. They understand scarcity. They understand demand. And they understand that some clubs are desperate enough to overpay for exactly this kind of talent.
That does not mean a trade is likely. It means the Yankees are doing their due diligence, which is what good organizations do.
The most probable outcome still has Chisholm hitting in the middle of the Yankees lineup on Opening Day, igniting the offense and reminding everyone why this conversation exists in the first place. The rumors will linger because they always do, but until reality changes, the Yankees are better with Jazz Chisholm Jr. than without him.