{"id":108368,"date":"2025-10-14T00:30:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T04:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=108368"},"modified":"2025-10-14T00:30:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T04:30:41","slug":"rumors-surround-yankees-middle-infield-entering-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/10\/14\/rumors-surround-yankees-middle-infield-entering-offseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Rumors Surround Yankees Infield Entering Offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"graf graf--p\">The New York Yankees\u2019 middle infield played a major role in their elimination from the 2025 postseason at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the team is rumored to be considering some major changes to their middle-infield tandem.<\/p>\n<h2>Offseason Rumors Already Swirling Around Yankees&#8217; Middle Infield<\/h2>\n<h3>Jazz Chisholm Jr.<\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">While <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chishja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jazz Chisholm Jr.<\/a> recorded the first 30\/30 season for the Yankees since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/soriaal01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alfonso Soriano<\/a> in 2003, his defense at second base was not what the organization expected. That&#8217;s partly because the team <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/30\/yankees-jazz-chisholm-jr-playing-third-base-upon-return\/\" target=\"_self\">could not decide<\/a> where to play him consistently, but his defense was up and down regardless. Sources confirmed reports from <a  href=\"https:\/\/sny.tv\/articles\/how-yankees-can-contend-championship-2026\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SNY\u2019s Andy Martino<\/a> and the <a  href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/09\/sports\/five-ways-yankees-can-use-offseason-to-get-over-their-october-hump\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em class=\"markup--em markup--p-em\">New York Post<\/em>&#8216;s Joel Sherman<\/a> that the Yankees are internally exploring a potential trade involving Chisholm. With Chisholm set to become a free agent after the 2026 season, the expectation is that the Yankees will neither extend nor retain him beyond that point. Given this situation, it would make complete sense for the Yankees to sell high on a 31\/31 player, with solid second base defense (<a  href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/jazz-chisholm-jr-665862?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">plus 8 OAA, per Statcast<\/a>) and acquire strong value in return.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/W8tTRKa5kj\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/W8tTRKa5kj<\/a> Thoughts on what the Yankees should prioritize this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Joelsherman1\/status\/1976464679636697563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Anthony Volpe<\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/volpean01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Volpe<\/a>, meanwhile, continues to look like a bust and should not be a starter on a team with championship aspirations. Volpe went 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts in the AL Division Series\u200a\u2014\u200athe highest strikeout rate in ALDS history. He endured another <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/11\/yankees-shortstop-anthony-volpe-slumping-again\/\" target=\"_self\">dreadful offensive season<\/a>, serving as a black hole in the Yankees\u2019 lineup for most of the year. Coupled with the major defensive regression he showed in 2025, Volpe was a net negative for the team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Volpe&#8217;s MLB-leading 16th strikeout of the postseason. No other player has more than 11 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fNZapIqKdn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/fNZapIqKdn<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Talkin&#8217; Yanks (@TalkinYanks) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinYanks\/status\/1976099881103045111?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Volpe won the 2023 AL Gold Glove at shortstop, but 2025 saw the biggest regression of his career. According to <a  href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/anthony-volpe-683011?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Statcast<\/a>, Volpe had a career-worst -6 outs above average in 2025. While no metric tracks this stat, a lot of Volpe&#8217;s struggles came in the highest leverage spots, with at least two botched plays at short leading to Yankees losses, which in turn cost them the AL East title.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Some boos for Volpe after he couldn&#8217;t come up with this play <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/l1GJKHMvKJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/l1GJKHMvKJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Talkin&#8217; Yanks (@TalkinYanks) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinYanks\/status\/1950005629713612870?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 29, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">The Yankees will likely try to salvage Volpe because moving on from him would symbolize the failure of a former first-round pick, but such loyalty is not in the best interest of either the player or the organization. Brian Cashman and the organization have propped Volpe up as the next <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jeterde01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-10-14_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Jeter<\/a> and have defended him at every turn of negativity he faced. The Yankees will now have to face the music about Volpe once again after a very rough season, both offensively and defensively, and it will be interesting to see how the Yankees respond this time around as the sample size increases.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">From for sure double play to no outs from Volpe <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/idNAIqcg1b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/idNAIqcg1b<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Talkin&#8217; Yanks (@TalkinYanks) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinYanks\/status\/1935512260228825550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">The Yankees are not far from reclaiming their spot as the bride of baseball rather than the perennial bridesmaid\u200a\u2014\u200abut to get there, the front office must abandon its commitment to players who are underperforming or costing the team games through complacency.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The New York Yankees\u2019 middle infield played a major role in their elimination from the 2025 postseason at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the team is rumored to be considering some major changes to their middle-infield tandem. Offseason Rumors Already Swirling Around Yankees&#8217; Middle Infield Jazz Chisholm Jr. While Jazz Chisholm Jr. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5663,"featured_media":106334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"1760428800","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"Rumors surrounding the Yankees middle infield?","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1071,35],"tags":[254,3461,1147,5149],"class_list":["post-108368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yankees","category-mlb","category-news","tag-alfonso-soriano","tag-anthony-volpe","tag-derek-jeter","tag-jazz-chisholm-jr"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108368"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108373,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108368\/revisions\/108373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}