The Yankees got swept by Tampa Bay in three games — hitting a collective .130 as a team in the series — and the offseason is already off to a loaded start. The central question: what do they do with Jazz Chisholm Jr.? According to MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand, the feeling within the industry is that New York is ready to move on from him. The two in-house names being discussed are Anthony Volpe and Luis García Jr. — very different profiles, each carrying their own complications.
Why Would the Yankees Let Chisholm Walk?
Chisholm’s 2026 season was a hard regression to ignore. In 2025 he was a 30-homer, 30-steal Silver Slugger winner. In 2026 he finished at .231/.312/.399, with a .711 OPS and a wRC+ of 98 — meaning he was 2% below the average MLB hitter, after being 25% above it the year before. His xwOBA of .294 ranked in the 16th percentile league-wide, suggesting even those modest numbers had some luck baked in.
The postseason made things worse. Aaron Boone benched him for two of the three ALDS games, and when he came up as a pinch-hitter at Yankee Stadium, he was booed — then fouled out. That’s not the image you want heading into a negotiation over a $23.1 million qualifying offer, which is what New York would have to extend him. Feinsand, who had floated that QO as a real possibility weeks earlier, now sees it as uncertain at best.
Chisholm has publicly said he wants to stay in New York. The industry, per Feinsand, is pointing the other way.
The Two Internal Options: Volpe and García Jr.
If the Yankees move on from Chisholm, the first name up is Anthony Volpe. The 25-year-old shortstop had a bumpy season — sent down to Triple-A twice after offseason shoulder surgery — but finished the year playing second base regularly once Chisholm went down with a thumb injury and was productive in the playoffs. In Game 3 of the ALDS, he appeared to hit a two-run home run that would have tied the series, only for fan interference to wipe it off the board. One erased play isn’t a reason to hand him a starting job, but what does matter is that Volpe knows shortstop, is physically comfortable at second, and fits the kind of player the front office wants to develop.
The second option is Luis García Jr., acquired from Washington at the August trade deadline. With the Yankees he played first base and DH, hitting .277/.309/.521 with a wRC+ of 124 — genuinely solid numbers. The problem is his defensive history at second base tells a different story: in over 4,000 innings at the position with the Nationals, he posted minus-29 DRS and minus-18 OAA, metrics that ranked among the worst in the league over that stretch. Aaron Boone acknowledged that García’s infield background could be in play going forward, but that’s a long way from saying it will work.
The short version: Volpe is the developmental bet with offensive uncertainty; García is the proven bat with a defensive past that raises real flags.
The Context That Complicates Everything
The Yankees finished 2026 with a payroll of roughly $303 million. Tampa Bay swept them spending around $91 million. That gap is already a conversation inside the organization and in the press. Paying $23.1 million on a qualifying offer to a player who finished in the 9th percentile in strikeout rate — among the most swing-and-miss hitters in all of baseball — is a tough sell internally, even for just one year.
Chisholm still brings real value in one area: speed. His 41 stolen bases led the American League, his sprint speed sits in the 75th percentile league-wide, and his 3.5 fWAR in 2026 is nothing to dismiss. But his contact issues remain his Achilles heel — 13th percentile in whiff rate, 7th percentile in xBA — and that’s not an easy fix.
The Yankees have to decide whether they believe Chisholm can bounce back to his 2025 form or whether they’d rather take the calculated risk of a cheaper in-house solution. Right now, the industry feeling Feinsand is reporting suggests New York has already made up its mind. It just hasn’t been made official yet.
The Numbers Behind Chisholm’s 2026
These are the Statcast figures from his 2026 season that explain what’s going on at the plate:
- 532 plate appearances
- 19 home runs, 55 RBI
- AVG: .231 | OPS: .711
- xwOBA: .294 (16th percentile)
- Average exit velocity: 90.4 mph
- Barrel rate: 8.2%
- Hard-hit rate: 42.8%
- Average bat speed: 72.9 mph
- Whiff rate: 13th percentile
- Sprint speed: 75th percentile
