SNY floats ridiculous Yankees trade candidate that would upend 2026 season

When it comes to reshaping the roster after a disappointing end to a playoff run, you need to be bold. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman should lay out all options on the table in search of upgrades this winter. But there's a difference between bold and ridiculous.

In a breakdown of five players who could potentially be traded, SNY listed the usual suspects. In the "makes sense" category were top prospect Spencer Jones, promising youngster Jasson Dominguez, and change-of-scenery candidate Camilo Doval. The bold move suggested is hypothetically trading Ben Rice. As silly as it sounds to trade Rice, teams have apparently been calling, and with a plethora of other first base options on the market, capitalizing on a team willing to drastically overpay isn't the worst idea.

Instead, the silliest candidate floated was trading All-Star second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.

SNY floats Jazz Chisholm Jr. as a potential Yankees trade candidate, but it makes no sense

Only the third player in franchise history to go 30-30, Chisholm Jr. is one of the most dynamic players on the roster. Sure, you can gripe about the strikeout totals and wish for a bit more contact, Maybe you're diametrically opposed to playoff yawns. Still, the combination of speed, power, and defensive prowess he brings is rare.

As impressive as his 30-30 season was, it's even more breathtaking when you stop and think that he also missed about a month's worth of action thanks to a torn oblique muscle.

The logic used to justify his standing as a trade candidate is that he's approaching his final year of arbitration and is projected to earn the hefty sum of $10.2 million while entering his age-28 season.

Sorry, but that's the kind of stuff rebuilding teams do. Instead, what the Yankees should be doing is talking extension with their star. Not only does that make sense from a team-building standpoint, but it's something he really wants.

Now, you could chalk this up in the same category as trading Ben Rice if there were viable alternatives out there. Again, if the Yankees were to move Rice for a haul, they could turn around and replace him with the likes of Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor, Kazuma Okamoto, or Munetaka Murakami on the free-agent market, just to name a few.

But Jazz replacements? Well, that would be either a Gleyber Torres reunion (hell will freeze over first), or picking between the likes of the defensively challenged Luis Arraez and Jorge Polanco, or settling for another former Yankee in Isiah Kiner-Falefa if you care about defense. Perhaps a utility type like Adam Frazier?

In other words, yuck. Internally, there aren't any options to replace him, either. Roc Riggio's a Rockie now.

There's a difference between being bold and being stupid. Bold is thinking outside of the box. Stupid is trading Chisholm Jr. away because his arbitration salary is high. Smart would've been extending him a long time ago to keep his price tag manageable and ensure that you're not searching for his replacement this time next year. Since the latter didn't happen, let's not compound the mistake by trading him now.