The New York Yankees have their All-Star second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. under team control for one more season, though according to expert projections they will need to pay him at least $11 million in 2026, either through an arbitration award or a contract settlement that makes arbitration unnecessary.
That would be nearly double the 27-year-old’s salary this season of $5.85 million. Is that a raise the Yankees are willing to give Chisholm? Unless they trade him, they will likely have no choice. But on Friday, Greg Joyce of the New York Post reported that as Chisholm enters his “walk year,” the Yankees granting him a contract extension that would keep him in the Bronx beyond 2026 “is unlikely before the season starts.”
That would put Chisholm in the position of playing next year under a cloud of uncertainty about his future. And that uncertainty may be well-founded, because according to The Athletic national baseball writer and former MLB general manager Jim Bowden, there’s another All-Star second baseman in the division who could make sense for New York.
That possible Chisholm replacement, according to Bowden, would be Tampa Bay Rays eight-year veteran Brandon Lowe.
“The 31-year-old will be a free agent after next season and if they’re ever going to trade him, the time is now,” Bowden wrote. “He’s coming off his healthiest year since 2021, playing in 134 games while putting up a SLG of .477. His 31 homers were tied with Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees for the most by a second baseman.”
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Lowe this season was close to, but not quite the equal of, Chisholm in terms of OPS. His .785 lagged behind the Yankees second baseman’s .813. And Chisholm is by far the bigger threat on the base paths, with 31 stolen bases. The steal is not a significant part of Lowe’s game, with only three in the season just completed.
But Lowe brings a valuable ability that causes Chisholm problems: defense. Chisholm led all major league second basemen with 12 errors at second. Lowe made only eight.
Lowe, however, also has one year remaining on his contract, at a salary $11.5 million, roughly what the Yankees would expect to pay Chisholm. Replacing Chisholm with Lowe would be a puzzling move — unless the Yankees believe they could extend Lowe for fewer years longer than Chisholm, saving payroll expenditures in the long term.
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