The New York Yankees have had a quiet offseason so far.
New York has been rumored to be targeting nearly every big-name free agent, but has yet to pull off a big move aside from bringing back outfielder Trent Grisham on a qualifying offer. In addition to not bringing in more talent, the team lost a key piece of its bullpen when reliever Devin Williams signed with the New York Mets in free agency.
Though the winter meetings were “tough” for the Yankees, general manager Brian Cashman may have given insight into potential moves for the rest of the offseason.
While at the winter meetings, Cashman vaguely hinted that the team could potentially trade 27-year-old All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr.
“(Chisholm) 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 said, per The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner. “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.
“But at the same time, the collection of all, whether it’s third base, second base, first base, catcher, center field … they’re all left-handed. Again, we’ll be open-minded. My default is that these are all individually good players. We acquired them for a reason — because we wanted them — and they have been productive with us. … But the job is to be open-minded to anything, everything, regardless.”
The Yankees boasted one of the best offenses in baseball this season, scoring the most runs and hitting the most home runs. Cashman has publicly acknowledged, however, that the Yankees have an imbalance in their lineup with too many left-handed hitters.
Chisholm is a two-time All-Star and one of the best slugging second basemen in the league. At the same time, the 27-year-old is entering his last season of arbitration eligibility. If the Yankees are unsure about committing to Chisholm long-term, trading the star second baseman could yield a big return while helping fix their lineup imbalance.
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