NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a two-time All-Star who came to the Yankees with 30-30 potential and a promise that he would earn a massive contract. Five months into a season that will determine his free agent value, neither the numbers nor the rumors are trending in his favor.
ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney raised the possibility this week that the Yankees could trade Chisholm before the August deadline. The suggestion landed because it is grounded in reality. Chisholm is hitting .217 with four home runs and 16 RBIs. He is a pending free agent with no future team control tied to his contract. And the Yankees are a team that will not carry an underperforming spot in the lineup indefinitely.
What Olney said and why it matters
Olney addressed the Chisholm situation directly, framing it around the Yankees’ lack of long-term leverage over the second baseman given his pending free agent status.
“I’m going to be really curious to see what happens with Jazz here over the next two and a half months,” Olney said. “At some point, especially because they don’t have a future tied to him, this is not a second-year player where he’s going to be under team control the next four years. And you’re maybe going to have more patience, as they did with (Anthony) Volpe. He’s a free agent at year’s end. At some point, they are going to need better production at that position, and I’m sure they’re going to be market opportunities for trades or eternally.”
When a young player like Volpe struggles, a team is patient because years of control justify the wait. Chisholm has no such cushion. He is 28, in a contract year and the Yankees owe him nothing beyond this season. If he does not produce, a trade return in relief help or prospects may be more valuable than his remaining at-bats.
Chisholm’s season numbers and the Stanton pants moment
He entered the Subway Series weekend hitting .203 with a .607 OPS. His most publicized moment of the season came Friday at Citi Field when he borrowed Giancarlo Stanton’s pants and went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, a stolen base and two RBIs in the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Mets. That version of Chisholm is the one the Yankees acquired from Miami in July 2024. When locked in, he changes the whole Yankees lineup. The locked-in version has appeared too rarely.
Chisholm addressed his struggles directly earlier this week. He acknowledged the frustration of feeling like he is not contributing enough with the bat.
“Right now, all I want to do is help my team win,” Chisholm said. “And when you feel like you’re not doing that and you’re not helping, especially with the bat, that’s just how you feel. You feel like it sucks.”
Boone’s message and the lineup context
Boone has not singled out Chisholm. But his message before the Subway Series covered the broader issue clearly.
Boone addressed the overall production concern ahead of the Subway Series.
“Overall, we’ve had a good offense, but we’ve got to get some more guys contributing regularly,” Boone said. “You see it around the league. There are a lot of really good players out there scuffling to this point. It’s part of it. We’ve had some guys flash it and start to pull themselves out a little bit, but obviously, looking for a little more consistency.”
The replacement options if the Yankees move Chisholm
The Yankees are not without internal options at second base. Anthony Volpe, currently the starting shortstop, could shift to second if the Yankees made a change. Volpe has the defensive versatility to handle the move.
The more intriguing option is George Lombard Jr. The Yankees’ top position prospect jumped 25 spots to No. 21 in the most recent MLB prospect rankings. He is a second baseman by trade. If the Yankees moved Chisholm, Lombard could be the long-term answer at the position, arriving via promotion rather than trade.
A Chisholm trade could also return bullpen help. The Yankees are two games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. A reliable reliever acquired at midseason could be the difference in the division.
Chisholm’s contract demands complicate everything
The most striking backdrop to any Chisholm trade talk is what he has said he wants this coming offseason. In spring training, speaking to NJ.com, Chisholm made his ask plain.
“I’d say no because I know I can get $35 million somewhere else. That’s $10 million less a year. I’m 28. I want 8-to-10 years,” Chisholm said when asked about a hypothetical Yankees extension offer below that threshold.
An 8-to-10 year deal at $35 million per year would total as much as $350 million. That was aggressive in spring training. His current numbers make it harder to justify. A strong second half could recover some leverage. A season that tracks as it has makes both his market and his Yankees future hard to project.
The Yankees are 28-18. They are contenders. They cannot afford to carry a lineup spot that does not produce simply out of loyalty to a player with no long-term connection to the franchise. Olney’s trade suggestion is not the Yankees’ plan today. But it is a real option. Whether Chisholm’s bat makes it necessary is now entirely up to him.
What do you think?
