Yankees cannot fall into the Trent Grisham trap with Jazz Chisholm Jr. qualifying offer decision

As the New York Yankees closed out their 2026 season with a whimper, two familiar faces were the team’s last remaining hope to do something special. Well, that something special never materialized and the Yankees were swept in the ALDS by none other than the Tampa Bay Rays. Those two familiar faces who came up empty handed were, of course, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham. 

While it was ultimately a very disappointing finish to their playoff run, there is a slight bright side to the result for the Yankees. The two players’ poor performances can serve as a poignant reminder of how the team should approach the roster in the offseason. With Chisholm Jr. set to test free agency, the club could extend the second baseman a qualifying offer of $23.1 million in order to be in position to recoup a compensatory draft pick at the very least. 

But as we saw last season with Grisham accepting the Yankees’ qualifying offer, that strategy can sometimes come back and cost you severely. Grisham enjoyed a career year in 2025, belting 34 home runs on his way to a robust .812 OPS. It was assumed that the outfielder would test free agency and rake in a multi-year deal elsewhere. Instead, he opted to take the $22 million offer from the Yankees and likely spoiled some of the team’s other plans in free agency. 

Grisham’s acceptance of the qualifying offer held the Yankees back in 2026. While he suffered from a nagging hamstring injury and a bit of bad luck at the plate throughout the majority of the year, he saw some significant regression throughout his game, regardless of health. It’s a big reason he put up just 0.7 fWAR this season. 

Although it’s a different situation this go around, the Yankees can’t afford to make the same mistake with Chisholm Jr. and be left with a player that doesn’t fit into their long-term plans. While it’s speculated that he won’t accept the qualifying offer, the Yankees can’t take that chance. 

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and his volatile offensive game are too much of a risk for the Yankees          

It’s no secret that Chisholm Jr. came up well short of the lofty goals he set for himself before the season began. The 28-year-old struggled to ever really find his rhythm at the plate in 2026, sporting a meager .231/.312/.399 slash line in 471 at-bats for the Yankees. While 2026 was a disappointing season for Chisholm Jr., he still managed to put up 3.5 fWAR. That was the eighth-highest fWAR for second basemen in the entire league.  

With 19 home runs and 41 steals on the year, Chisholm Jr. never came close to his dream 50/50 season with the Yankees. Despite the tough time at the plate, he never brought those struggles out with him on the field, still providing very strong defense overall. However, his first-inning error in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rays cost the Yankees a run and forced the team to play catchup for the rest of the night. He then failed to cut off a runner at home plate in the Yankees’ fateful fifth inning. 

He wasn’t the only reason that the Yankees lost Game 2, but he’s the caliber of player you’d expect more from on defense at all times. That can actually help describe Chisholm’s game throughout his tenure with the Yankees. He has had stretches of pure brilliance, while also being head-scratchingly befuddling at times. As a self-proclaimed warm weather player, Chisholm Jr. has been known to disappear on offense for weeks at a time when it's chilly outside.

If the Yankees weren’t knocking on the door of World Series contention every year, maybe they could live with that inconsistency.  And it’s true that Chisholm Jr. has already noted how he loves playing for the Yankees. Any team would covet a player with that kind of mindset. So since he may not have as many lucrative offers in free agency as he originally hoped for at start the year, that potential $23.1 qualifying offer may be too irresistible for him to pass up. 

The Yankees would be smart to make sure that can’t happen.      

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