In a bid to both reshape their bullpen and gain an extra prospect arm for a player who was largely blocked at the Major League level anyway, the New York Yankees made a trade over the winter of 2025 that saw them move a young position player for a young arm. Unfortunately, though, the position player in question is now absolutely raking.
On 28th January this year, the Yankees made a deal with the Colorado Rockies that sent first baseman TJ Rumfield to Coors Field in exchange for young right-handed reliever Angel Chivilli. At the time, Rumfield was not on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, while Chivilli was considered to be on the cusp of being ready to graduate into a regular bullpen option.
Chivilli has not yet done much with the Yankees to date, throwing only 2.1 innings to a 3.86 ERA and 2.14 WHIP before placed on the 15-day injured list with shoulder issues. Rumfield, though, has really taken to the atmosphere at Coors Field like many a young hitter has over the years, and is currently in the running for the National League Rookie of the Year.
Yankees Got A Steal Before Giving One Back
The Rockies completely changed their first base rotation over the year, moving on from Michael Toglia and bringing in various options to find the one that sticks the best after a truly terrible campaign. And so far, Rumfield is winning the battle.
On the season to date, Rumfield is hitting .284 with a .361 on-base percentage, hitting seven home runs on his way to a .804 OPS in 201 at-bats across 51 games. All of these numbers are comfortably above major league averages, and represent a very smooth start to a Major League career. Rumfield never took the field for the Yankees despite achieving about as much as there was to achieve at the Triple-A level, and it is now the Rockies that are the beneficiaries of the development of a well-rounded player who looks decidedly comfortable against major league pitching.
Initially selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 12th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball Draft with the 355th overall pick, Rumfield quickly established himself as a productive left-handed hitter with strong on-base skills (peaking at a .378 on-base percentage with 70 walks last season with Yankees AAA-affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre). He first joined the Yankees as a part of a November 2021 prospect swap deal that saw Donny Sands and Nick Nelson go the other way. But while Nelson is now stuck pitching in the Asian leagues – admittedly, really well – Rumfield is a regular performer in the majors.
Rumfield Relishing The Opportunity
In 2023, his first full season in the Yankees organization, Rumfield played primarily for the Double-A Somerset Patriots, where he won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award at first base. He also produced one of the best offensive seasons of his professional career, combining contact ability with improving power production.
Rumfield opened the 2024 season with Somerset before earning a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in April. He spent the remainder of the season at the Triple-A level and was invited to major league spring training by the Yankees organization before the 2025 season. During 2025, he appeared in 138 games at Triple-A and batted .285 with 16 home runs and 87 RBI, establishing career highs in several offensive categories and continuing a steady upswing in his power numbers while remaining one of the Yankees’ top first-base prospects. The light area of the Rocky Mountains has only helped that power production further.
The path to big league game time for Rumfield with the Yankees was never clear. Ben Rice’s continued breakout has him firmly established as the primary option at first base – and it seems his catching days are behind him – while Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt are still doing enough in their pension years to serve as blockers for this year at least. Chivilli also needs considerably longer to evaluate than he has had so far, and while his results in the majors to date have been poor, the stuff is live and worth mentoring.
Nevertheless, as things stand, the Yankees are on the losing end of the deal. By quite some way.
Yankees Gave Away Future Rookie of the Year Candidate