Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s dismissive postgame Wild Card interview hints at Yankees discord

Once again, the fans had it right and the Yankees had it wrong. We're on Year 16 of this. But this is Brian Cashman's world, and he's the guy from Bird Box forcing open our eyes and making us watch it. Or is that Aaron Boone carrying out his demands? We'll never know. But we're the victims.

Fans warned of the Yankees playing with fire if they toyed too much with their Game 1 lineup against the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series. The result? One run. Zero walks. Zero RBI with RISP. Thirteen strikeouts. Two of the Yankees' best hitters were on the bench in Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice. They lost 3-1 and wasted a sterling Max Fried outing. They might as well be dead.

For a moment, Chisholm's absence made some sense. He took a wicked fastball off his forearm on Saturday and there was a chance he probably needed rest when considering Garrett Crochet was on the mound for Game 1.

But before the game, Boone told us he was good to go and that'd he'd be on the bench because of the lefty-lefty matchup. Again, the Yankees benched TWO OF THEIR BEST HITTERS in their futile attempt to combat one of the AL Cy Young favorites, as if guys standing on the opposite side of the batter's box were going to spook Crochet into peeing down his leg.

And how did Boone handle it? He texted Chisholm on Monday night telling him he wouldn't be in the lineup. That's a good way to conduct business as the man in charge, who is dubbed Mr. Communication by everybody who attempts to compliment him despite failure after failure.

How did Chisholm respond? With arguably the most dismissive postgame interview of ... all time? He sifted through his outfits in his locker as he half-heartedly responded to reporters' questions about his absence in Game 1 up until he entered late to receive a single at-bat.

Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s dismissive postgame Wild Card interview hints at Yankees discord

Did Chisholm have a right to be upset? Absolutely. He's had a career year and was one of the Yankees' best players from start to finish.

Did Chisholm have a right to act like this? Absolutely not. But this is how the Yankees handle business. This is how they are as a "team". They are never on the same page when they need to be. They unravel and unravel and ... unravel in tense moments like this.

This was a version of Game 2 of the 2020 ALDS when, against his wishes, JA Happ was inserted into the game in the second inning to piggyback "trick" opener Deivi Garcia in a game (and series) the Yankees would eventually lose. That feels like ages ago. How is Boone still here?

And here we are. After defending Jazz for a year and a half, we have our first tangible evidence of him being a locker room disruption. Any adult in the room knows something like this won't be well received. But he clearly didn't care. He wanted to play, and he took out his frustrations as he saw fit.

We don't blame him for wanting to play. He should have. We don't blame him for being frustrated. He should be. This organization is a new kind of circus every year. And they just made another one of their own turn into the Joker before our very eyes.