After a turbulent year, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hopes to remain with Yankees: ‘This is where I want to be’
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — Typically a man of many words, Jazz Chisholm Jr. refused to answer a handful of questions after the Rays swept the Yankees in the ALDS on Wednesday night.
Why couldn’t the Yankees get it done against the Rays? What was his reaction to being benched for Anthony Volpe in the Bombers’ most important game of the season? Was he surprised that Aaron Boone didn’t have a conversation with him ahead of time about that decision, something the manager has done in the past?
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“No comment,” Chisholm, decked out in a red Yankees varsity jacket and a matching cap, said each time.
But when it came to the second baseman’s impending free agency, Chisholm reiterated wishes he’s shared in the past.
“I do hope to be back,” he said. “This is where I want to be.”
The feeling may not be mutual with the 28-year-old fresh off a disappointing and turbulent season.
After gaining access to the 30-30 club in 2025, Chisholm predicted, unrealistically, a 50-50 walk year and a payday in excess of $300 million back in spring training. Instead, he hit 19 homers with 41 stolen bases, a .231 average and 55 RBIs. His 98 wRC+ ranked 14th among qualified second baseman, and his .711 OPS ranked 12th.
“I definitely didn’t have my best year this year,” Chisholm acknowledged after adding a .182 average in four playoff games.
He also remained a magnet for unwanted and, at times, unnecessary attention, a theme throughout a seven-year career that began in Miami.
There were certainly funny reasons for that, like when he openly discussed his refusal to wear a cup after hitting a foul ball off his family jewels, or a stretch where he borrowed Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham’s pants and Aaron Judge and José Caballero’s bats for some needed luck.
But there were also multiple instances in which Chisholm wasn’t sure what pitcher the Yankees were about to face. In April, he said he didn’t know a force out rule after an extra-inning loss to the Rays. Boone defended those remarks, but Chisholm’s decision to play second base with a lollipop in his mouth drew the manager’s ire in June. A few days later, he had to apologize to teammates for slamming his helmet and getting ejected, which forced Volpe into a game on short notice.
In August, a WEEI announcer shamefully said that a Red Sox pitcher should fight Chisholm for stealing two bases with a six-run lead; the Yankee wasn’t in the wrong there.
However, Chisholm drew more deserved criticism after making a costly, off-balance, ill-advised throwing error in Game 2 of the ALDS. Afterward, he twice said he would do it again if given the chance.
Once again, Boone defended the comments, even though he thought Chisholm should have held the ball.
“Sometimes when you ask athletes questions, and you got a lot of people around, they answer in a certain way,” Boone said of the matter before Game 3 on Wednesday. “It’s not so literal all the time.”
It’s possible that that will be the last time Boone must answer for the candidly colorful Chisholm, who certainly seemed to wear thin on the Yankees this year more so than he did in 2024 and 2025. Those, of course, were far more productive seasons for the two-time All-Star.
A segment of the fan base certainly lost patience with him, as demonstrated by the chorus of boos that followed a pinch-hit popup on Wednesday.
Chisholm found the jeers puzzling.
“It doesn’t hurt,” he said. “It’s just confusing because it’s the playoffs and we’re trying to win games. So you’re booing a guy that’s playing currently, trying to help the team win, and you’re hearing boos instead of trying to hype guys up. But at the end of the day, it didn’t hurt me because I’ve seen Aaron Judge get booed here, too. So who am I? That’s a three-time MVP.”
Chisholm added that he didn’t know he wouldn’t start until he saw the lineup card, and that he would have preferred to have a conversation with Boone about the decision to go with Volpe. That didn’t happen.
The fact that Chisholm did not start the Yankees’ biggest game of the year and was replaced by a player who is less gifted all around is an indictment on him. It shows just how much the left-handed hitter was trusted with a Rays righty, Nick Martinez, on the mound and the season on the line.
It could also be indicative of the Yankees’ appetite, or lack thereof, for a reunion this winter.
Chisholm will be one of the more talented hitters in a weak free agent class that could overlap with a lockout, so it is hard to predict what type of deal he will get. But it is hard to see the Yankees giving him a multi-year contract. At this point, even the one-year qualifying offer, which will be $23.15 million this offseason, seems like too much for the pinstripers to stomach for a player who comes with so much unpredictability on and off the field.
Still, Chisholm hoped that the good he did in the Bronx will outweigh his trying 2026 campaign, even as he spoke about his tenure in the past tense.
“I love it as a Yankee,” he said. “I grew up as a Yankee fan. Being from the Bahamas, watching Derek Jeter and those guys every day, it was a great time being a Yankee. I loved my time as a Yankee. I had great years with the Yankees. I had an All-Star year. I had a Silver Slugger year. It was great. I mean, who doesn’t want to stay with a team that you’ve had such great times with and great years with?
“To see it maybe end here sucks, but it’s part of the business.”