With Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s worth at an all-time excessive, it’s no marvel that the Yankees’ second baseman is drawing commerce curiosity.
“We are open-minded to challenge trades on a lot of our talented players because, yes, we are left-handed,” Cashman mentioned. “That is a problem.”
However Cashman additionally praised the lefty-swinging Chisholm, who totaled 31 homers, 80 RBI, 31 stolen bases, an .813 OPS, a 126 wRC+ and a 4.4 fWAR regardless of lacking time with an indirect pressure. A nagging groin damage restricted his operating for an additional month, but Chisholm nonetheless authored the fourth 30-30 season in franchise historical past.
The 27-year-old additionally rated nicely defensively — when he wasn’t pressured to play out of place at third — regardless of main all second basemen with 12 errors. Chisholm’s eight Outs Above Common ranked second amongst all second basemen with at the very least 850 innings performed, and he completed third in Fielding Run Worth (5) and fourth in Defensive Runs Saved (2) on the place.
“He is somebody who I think is currently part of the solution, someone who has made us better by getting him two deadlines ago and giving us athleticism,” Cashman mentioned of Chisholm, who sincerely believes a 40-40 marketing campaign is attainable. “He’s above average. He’s an All-Star second baseman. Great defense, steals bags, power, all that stuff. So he’s been a good get.”
As Cashman alluded to, Chisholm has been every little thing the Yankees might have hoped for after they acquired him from the Marlins forward of the 2024 commerce deadline.
The colourful character has been considered one of baseball’s prime hitters within the 176 video games he’s performed in since, tallying 42 dwelling runs, 103 RBI, 49 stolen bases, an .816 OPS, a 128 wRC+ and a 6.7 fWAR.
So far as that final stat goes, Chisholm has been a top-20 participant since donning pinstripes. Solely two different second basemen can say that over that span: the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and the Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte, the latter of which has the Yankees on his no-trade checklist.
It might be tough for the Yankees to interchange Chisholm’s output, as solely Hoerner, Marte and Milwaukee’s Brice Turang had a better fWAR whereas primarily taking part in second this previous season. With Cashman additionally indicating that he received’t deal for a lesser participant just because they’re right-handed, the championship-aspiring Yankees must be blown away for a Chisholm commerce to make sense.
A extra logical transfer can be to increase Chisholm. The candid infielder, slated totally free company after the 2026 season, has mentioned he’s quite a few occasions.
“I’ve already expressed how much I would want to be a Yankee for the rest of my career. At the end of the day, that’s what I want to do and hope to do,” he reiterated in September. “I want to be a Yankee, so I would definitely rather just re-sign with the Yankees. Obviously, it’s not my decision at that point.”
Earlier this offseason, Cashman mentioned that the Yankees haven’t had any formal talks with Chisholm’s camp a few long-term deal. He didn’t rule out “a legitimate conversation about value” with “one of the best second basemen in the game,” however the GM didn’t make any commitments, both.
The Yankees have sometimes averted extension talks prior to now. Affords to or offers with Aaron Choose, Luis Severino and Aaron Hicks are current exceptions, although the latter two signed extensions that backfired for the group.
On the Winter Conferences, Cashman mentioned that the Severino and Hicks offers wouldn’t make the Yankees extra reluctant to supply extensions, however he hinted that the lack of payroll flexibility might work in opposition to such a pact coming collectively within the close to future.
“Our history is we’ve let these things play out, for better or for worse,” Cashman mentioned when particularly requested about an extension for Chisholm. “It doesn’t have to be that way, but that’s generally our history.”
