After a disappointing ending to the 2025 MLB season, many around the league expected the New York Yankees to blow up the core and retool their lineup for 2026. They may not know much about how the Bronx Bombers truly view their team. Whereas the New York Mets underwent a deep transformation this offseason, the Yankees did quite the opposite—and Jazz Chisholm Jr. is all for it.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The quote belongs to Charles Dickens, from A Tale of Two Cities, and it described the story of England and France leading up to the French Revolution. However, it could very well be adapted to describe the present state of MLB. For England, read Yankees, and for France, read Mets, and the quote carries the same weight in both the Bronx and Queens as it once did in London and Paris.
The Yankees remain confident in their team after falling in the ALDS in the 2025 MLB Postseason, and they have good reason to do so. Meanwhile, after missing the playoffs entirely, the Mets have parted ways with—or lost in free agency—long-tenured stars.
The Orange and Blue now feature a completely different lineup, whereas the Pinstripers are pretty much intact, which Chisholm Jr. believes is the right call—especially when the roster features talents many teams would give an arm and a leg to get their hands on. In that regard, Chisholm Jr. delivered a confident statement.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the Yankees
“I don’t see a problem with running it back with four MVPs on your team,” Chisholm Jr. told reporters and media present at Yankees’ first week of spring training.
Mets-Yankees rivalry
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In New York, baseball always comes down to a matter of “us against them.” The Yankees will always share a special—and their biggest—hatred for the Boston Red Sox, but the Mets are always there, too.
As big as the New York metropolitan area is, it never seems to be big enough for the two organizations and fanbases to coexist. As a result, both clubs continuously go to each other’s throats. In this case, attack is the best defense. Thus, Chisholm Jr.’s statement poses a direct threat to the Mets, as well as to the rest of the league. The Yankees don’t have to hit the panic button.
Obviously, last year’s elimination still hurts, but they are built differently. While the Orange and Blue cleaned house, the Bronx Bombers simply polished the silverware and occasionally swept some dirt under the carpet.
Is running it back the right decision?
Many believe insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting different results. Whether that quote truly belongs to Albert Einstein or was mistakenly credited to him, Chisholm Jr. and the Yankees don’t really see a problem in rolling with the same lineup.
Across the East River, the Mets clearly don’t think alike. However, the Mets and Yankees rarely look eye to eye, and as Chisholm Jr. noted, the Mets don’t feature four MVP winners like the Pinstripes do in Aaron Judge (2025), Paul Goldschmidt (2022), Cody Bellinger (2019), and Giancarlo Stanton (2017).
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