Yankees insider suggests back-breaking trade could be possible at Winter Meetings

Hot stove speculation is reaching its apex with the Winter Meetings just days away. The New York Yankees have a tight budget, so it's logical that many believe they could turn to the trade market to solve some of their many needs.

Some of the rumors and speculation hold water, while others are simply too far out there to be believed. You can file away this nugget from Bryan Hoch's appearance on SNY in the latter category, as he pontificates that the Yankees could deal away Jazz Chisholm Jr. at this year's winter festivities.

Bryan Hoch's suggestion that the Yankees trade away Jazz Chisholm Jr. would be a horrible gaffe if it came to fruition

To be fair to Hoch, it was a leading question. He was asked point-blank why the Yankees should trade Chisholm Jr., but that doesn't make the idea any less ridiculous.

The crux of Hoch's argument is that the fact that the Yankees haven't extended the dynamic second baseman must mean they have questions about keeping him in the fold long term. That ignores two key points, however.

First, there's the fact that the Yankees, despite the popularity elsewhere in the league, rarely come to terms with players on early extensions and almost never will hold extension conversations in-season. The second part is, simply put, they missed the boat on any chance to lock up Jazz at a discount and are now better off making him play it out and repeat his exceptional performance after he became just the third Yankee ever to go 30-30.

Hoch's logic also includes the reason that trading Chisholm Jr. would be beneficial due to the haul he'd command as a very good player in this league. Aren't we trying to get more good players on the Yankees, not fewer? Big-leaguer-for-big-leaguer trades aren't impossible, but they are rare, so even if you took the logic that trading him could fill a hole with a quality player elsewhere, finding a match would be nearly impossible.

And then there's the question of who plays second base? The Yankees don't have any real internal options, so trading Chisholm Jr. would just shift the need from one part of the roster to another.

In this hypothetical, do the Yankees then go out and sign Bo Bichette? He might be more costly than simply extending Jazz, and while shifting to second would help some, he's a putrid defender.

Do they turn around and trade for Ketel Marte? Congratulations, you just added a guy who will soon be exiting his prime to replace a guy just beginning to enter his, and paid the price in premium prospects while absorbing a big-money, long-term contract to do so.

How about Brendan Donovan? He's a nice player, but again, now you have to surrender prospect capital, and you'd get back a player who is a cut or two below Chisholm Jr.'s level.

This isn't the first time we've heard trading Chisholm Jr. as a pathway forward, and it likely won't be the last. None of that changes the fact that a move like this almost assuredly does more harm than good.