The Yankees acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. in 2024, and until this year, his time with the Yankees was going great.
He helped get the team to the World Series in 2024 and had a 31-homer, 31-steal season in 2025. He came into this year talking about winning MVP and posting a 50-50 season.
Now, Chisholm has always carried concerns about his attitude, showmanship and some of his antics. However, when he's putting up great numbers, a lot of that gets swept under the rug. This year, he struggled, and suddenly he became a distraction.
This year, Chisholm drew a ton of criticism for playing second base with a lollipop in his mouth. It's stuff like that that fans had a problem with. Many fans questioned the leadership in the clubhouse when that happened. Aaron Judge is the Yankees' captain, and his leadership was being questioned, but NJ.com's Randy Miller revealed that Judge tried to put a stop to some of Chisholm's actions.
"I know Judge has sternly told Jazz to stop doing certain things, because Jazz told me it happened," Miller said in a roundtable discussion. "But that didn’t stop Jazz from getting out of line time and time again."
Efforts were certainly made to keep Chisholm in line, but clearly they were ineffective. Some think the Yankees need a stronger leadership presence that will keep players in check. Is this a byproduct of poor leadership or just Chisholm being difficult? Who is really to blame?
"They knew of his reputation when he was with the Marlins, but that experiment failed," said Yankees insider Bob Klapisch. "That one is definitely not on Aaron Judge. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jazz decided, 'I can have a lollipop in my mouth while I’m in the game, and I can get away with it. I can play in a playoff game with my back pocket out, and no one’s going to say anything to me. No one’s going to bench me.' That’s on Boone."
Whether it's on Boone, Judge or the front office, Chisholm likely won't be back with the Yankees after failing to put up good numbers in a contract year.