Aaron Boone didn’t exactly leave the door open for Jazz Chisholm Jr. on Wednesday.
At New York’s end-of-season press conference, Boone was asked a follow-up about whether Chisholm Jr.’s June lollipop incident bothered him. The Yankees manager’s response made it plain that it still does.
“I answered that in real time. I think you know it bothered me.
So, yeah, it bothered me. You didn't hear my answer to that when that happened?
Yeah, and that was one of those things that I called out from this set that bothered me. I'm surprised you missed that.
I've also said up here that nothing's perfect, but I said as a whole we had a lot of the right ingredients. Doesn't mean we didn't have individual things pop up, or doesn't mean it's a perfect room by any means, and when those things do come up I try to address them,” Boone said.
That answer matters because it adds to the growing sense that Chisholm Jr.’s time in the Bronx is done. He entered 2026 with plenty of noise around him and talk to match, but the season didn’t go the way he needed it to.
Even with Aaron Judge mostly absent, this was the kind of year that could have locked him into pinstripes and set him up for a big payday. Instead, he came up short.
A strong finish was supposed to help change the conversation. Injury wiped out that chance, and the playoffs became his final shot to salvage the relationship.
He didn’t take it. After his throwing error in Game 2 of the ALDS, he doubled down instead of backing down, and the impression he left only got worse.
When Anthony Rizzo eviserated him after New York’s elimination, it reinforced the feeling that Chisholm Jr. wasn’t connecting with what the Yankees wanted from him. Boone’s comments only sharpened that reality. The manager, who has often gone to bat for his players, did not treat this as a harmless personality quirk or a minor misstep that could be brushed aside.
Boone has plenty of history defending his guys, sometimes long after the evidence says otherwise. In August, on the Talkin’ Yanks Podcast, he argued with Jomboy that Trent Grisham was still an above-average center fielder even as the numbers and the eye test told a different story. That tendency has fueled complaints from fans for a while.
This time, though, Boone sounded less like a protector and more like someone drawing a line. The phrase “we had a lot of the right ingredients” carries a lot of weight, because it also suggests there were ingredients that didn’t belong. Put that together with Judge’s public reaction and Boone’s own frustration, and the picture gets pretty clear.
Even with the offseason ahead, it’s hard to see Brian Cashman forcing a reunion after this. The manager’s stance, Judge’s response, and Chisholm Jr.’s 2026 season all point in the same direction: the Yankees and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are headed for a split.
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