The biggest trade deadline acquisition the Yankees made last year was for Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The athletic infielder turned outfielder was brought on to solve the lack of viable infield starters but the role Chisholm played with the Yankees was different than the one general manager Brian Cashman saw.
Speaking on the YES Network’s Yankees Hot Stove on Thursday night, the longtime GM was asked about the team’s current third base situation when he elaborated on his vision.
“When I acquired Jazz, I acquired Jazz to be our second baseman and move Gleyber [Torres] to third the rest of last year,” Cashman said. [Manager Aaron Boone] wanted to do it the other way. He moved Jazz to third after we got him and kept Gleyber [Torres] at second because Gleyber didn’t want to move to third and was unwilling.”
Cashman’s comments come as a bit of a surprise. When Chisholm was acquired and the idea of Torres moving to third was broached to the infielder, he didn’t take well to it.
Torres told the media on July 28, “I’m a second baseman. I play second.”
The 28-year-old also took to social media to respond to Cashman’s comments about him.
Still ? 😴😂 just turn 🗒️
— Gleyber Torres (@TorresGleyber) February 7, 2025
Torres does have experience changing infield positions. He split time between second and shortstop before becoming an everyday shortstop in 2021. However, his defensive metrics did not bode well at short and he went back to second the following year.
Chisholm had never played third base before last year. He came up as a second baseman with the Miami Marlins before transitioning into the outfield.
He started 45 games at the hot corner for the Yankees in 2024 and was pretty solid for a first-timer but he may need to be again. Torres signed with the Detroit Tigers in free agency after not receiving a contract offer from the Yankees, so a decision has to be made whether Chisholm will play third or second when the season starts.
Despite not having an infield the team can be confident in, Cashman is pleased with the experience Chisholm gained at third base as it allows the team more flexibility for 2025.
“Jazz wound up getting baptized at a position he never had played, played it well enough, and now gives us a little more flexibility entering the ‘25 year,” Cashman said.
Cashman named Oswald Peraza, Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu and Jorbit Vivas as potential options at third or second base, and they’ll all compete for a spot this spring training. The Yankees GM prefers not to have a platoon situation but if Boone and the organization believe it’s the best way forward, that’s what they’ll do.
But Cashman is leaving the door open for an external addition.
“I don’t know how [the third base situation is] going to play out,” he said. “I do think we can have one of these candidates emerge or multiple guys emerge into a platoon situation at worst, or a solo shot at best and if not there’s also the marketplace to play around with as we move forward.”
The Yankees report to spring training on Feb. 11.
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