Yankees Must Completely Avoid This Jazz Chisholm Scenario

New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm is mired in the worst season of his career, and it comes at the worst possible time for the two-time All-Star.

Chisholm is slated to hit free agency this offseason, and after entering the 2026 campaign desiring $35 million annually on his first big contract, he should probably now temper his expectations.

The 28-year-old is slashing .216/.296/.385 with 17 home runs and 48 RBI over 459 plate appearances this season. He has stolen 33 bases, but that's about the only thing he has done this year that has been worthwhile.

But in spite of Chisholm's struggles and his mercurial nature, Tim Britton of The Athletic actually believes the Yankees should take a chance on retaining him, Trent Grisham-style.

"I would expect teams would be interested in multi-year deals for Chisholm, but probably in the four-year range (and maybe between $20 million and $25 million per year). That means that, yes, a team with the Yankees’ resources should absolutely extend him the qualifying offer," Britton wrote.

Uh, no; they absolutely should not.

If New York did tender a qualifying offer to Chisholm, there is actually a good chance he would bet on himself having a much stronger year in 2027 and accept it.

That's what Grisham did when the Yankees extended the QO to him last winter, and while the outfielder has been hot lately, he has, for the most part, been a massive disappointment this season, just like many anticipated.

To be fair, Britton did qualify his statement by saying that the Yanks extending a qualifying offer to Chisholm would require him to break out of his "slump," but can you really call five months a "slump?"

Chisholm owns a .681 OPS this season. He only had one month where he posted an .800 OPS, which came back in May when he hit .800 on the nose. His best month otherwise? July, when he registered a .727 OPS.

It's not just his lack of production at the plate, either. It's also the mental errors, such as forgetting how many outs there are while on the basepaths.

Chisholm is a lifetime .242/.313/.443 hitter over the course of his big-league career, which began with the Miami Marlins back in 2020. Tired of his inconsistency, the Marlins ultimately traded Chisholm to the Yankees midway through 2024.

Considering that Luis Arraez will be available this offseason, the idea of New York even taking the chance of Chisholm returning should not be on the table.

Yes, Chisholm was good in 2025, slugging 31 homers and recording an .813 OPS. But he is one of the streakiest players you will ever see, and who is to say that whatever we are seeing out of Chisholm this year won't become the norm moving forward?

The Yankees should just avoid the risk altogether.