NEW YORK — The Yankees have begun reshaping their infield options for 2027, and their first offseason roster decision puts an unproven but productive right-handed bat into a conversation that already includes a departing All-Star.
New York’s second-base situation has been unsettled since the club’s postseason elimination. A lineup that struggled for long stretches in 2026 now faces the prospect of losing a player who delivered a 30-homer, 30-steal season just one year earlier.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. reached free agency after a season that offered sharply different results. He stole a career-high 41 bases but hit .231 with 19 home runs, 55 RBIs and a .711 OPS in 137 games. He was left out of the starting lineup for two playoff games, including the elimination game against Tampa Bay.
The Yankees also have questions about how they distribute infield playing time. Anthony Volpe started at second base in that final playoff game, while José Caballero and Luis García Jr. are among the other internal alternatives. Each option carries a different offensive and defensive profile.
On Monday, Nov. 2, the Yankees declined to extend Chisholm a one-year, $23.15 million qualifying offer, allowing him to enter the market without draft-pick compensation attached. They instead tendered the offer to closer David Bednar. On the same day, the club selected the contract of former Giants infielder Marco Luciano from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, adding him to its 40-man roster.
The power surge earns a roster spot
Luciano, 25, spent 2026 with Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and produced the strongest power season of his professional career. In 116 games across the two levels, he hit .293 with a .387 on-base percentage, .545 slugging percentage and .933 OPS.
His 27 home runs, 78 RBIs and 90 runs scored came in 493 plate appearances. The total included 10 homers in 28 games at Somerset before a promotion to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he added 17 in 88 games.
For the Yankees, the split makes his season more revealing than the combined home run total. He hit .327 with a 1.123 OPS in Double-A, then posted a .282 average and .872 OPS in Triple-A. His output fell against more advanced pitching but remained productive over a much larger sample.
The Yankees first claimed Luciano off waivers from Baltimore in January after his earlier stops with San Francisco and Pittsburgh. Once considered one of baseball’s leading prospects, he has appeared in 41 major league games, batting .217 with a .590 OPS for the Giants in 2023 and 2024.
He has minor league experience at shortstop, second base and left field. His right-handed power gives New York another candidate to evaluate as it tries to improve the balance of its lineup.
Sherman raises questions over Chisholm’s Yankees tenure
The qualifying-offer choices also drew a pointed assessment from baseball insider Joel Sherman. While discussing the eight players who received offers, Sherman singled out the second baseman left off the list, saying:
“Not among it was Jazz Chisholm Jr.”
Sherman then considered how the infielder’s time in the Bronx would be remembered after two-plus seasons with New York, saying:
“Ultimately, I think his time with the Yankees is going to be remembered in frustration.”
His criticism centered on Chisholm’s consistency and execution rather than a lack of physical ability. The second baseman had entered 2026 with public ambitions of reaching 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases, but his production dipped following his 31-homer, 31-steal campaign in 2025.
A 40-man decision is not yet a second-base appointment
Luciano’s addition protects his place on the major league roster heading into the offseason, but it does not establish him as Chisholm’s replacement. The Yankees can still pursue a veteran second baseman, retain Chisholm on a negotiated contract or use a spring competition to decide the position.
There is also a substantial difference in major league experience. Chisholm has accumulated 313 games, 61 home runs and 158 RBIs as a Yankee since arriving from Miami in July 2024. Luciano’s 115 major league at-bats offer far less evidence of what he can contribute in the Bronx.
For the Yankees, the timing nevertheless matters. A player who spent much of the year outside the major league roster has been promoted onto the 40-man list just as the Yankees declined a costly one-year commitment to their incumbent second baseman.
For the Yankees, the immediate action is a formal roster promotion. The larger question is whether Luciano can turn his Triple-A performance into a legitimate major league alternative at second base in 2027.
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