The New York Yankees didn’t have room for TJ Rumfield.
There are only so many spots in the lineup, and when a young player plays the same position as a star, it can be hard to break through.
That’s why, in this past offseason, the Yankees traded Rumfield to the Colorado Rockies for relief pitcher Angel Chivilli.
Rumfield has been one of the top rookies in the National League. He’s batting .299 with 15 home runs and an .850 OPS. He’s a contender for NL Rookie of the Year.
And this week, he’s at Yankee Stadium, playing for the visiting Rockies.
When the deal was made more than six months ago, Rumfield was “really shocked,” he told The Athletic this week.
Since then, though, Rumfield has simply done everything he can to take advantage of the new opportunity.
Why Did Yankees Trade TJ Rumfield?
The simple explanation is that Ben Rice had already broken out.
If Rice hadn’t put together a big 2025 season, maybe the Yanks consider Rumfield at first base. But Rice did break out. He’s a star.
Rumfield hit .285 with an .825 OPS in Triple-A with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2025, so he had certainly done his part to get noticed.
As it turns out, it was just the Rockies who noticed a chance to snag a promising player from an organization that didn’t have an easy path toward using him.
“It’s one of those things where you’re sitting there and you could have a good year,” Rumfield said, via The Athletic, “but Ben Rice is spectacular. He’s a great player. A great hitter. A great person. We play the same position. It’s hard to be on the same roster together.”
TJ Rumfield Grew With Yankees
The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty wrote this about Rumfield’s time in the Yankees’ system:
“Rumfield credited several people from his time with the Yankees organization for his success, including player development leader Kevin Reese and former minor-league hitting coordinator Joe Migliaccio, who is now with the Miami Marlins. Rumfield also shouted out current Yankees coaches Dan Fiorito (first base), Ryan Hunt (director of infield, outfield, base running) and Jake Hirst (assistant hitting coach).”
Rumfield had never actually played in the major leagues, though, and Kuty adds the detail that this week is the first time he’s ever been at Yankee Stadium.
It’s been quite the journey to this point. He was a 12th-round pick by the Phillies in 2021 out of Virginia Tech.
The Yankees got him in a trade in Nov. 2021 with Joel Valdez for Nick Nelson and Donny Sands — three guys who haven’t made any inroads, and then the rising star Rumfield.
And now this offseason, the trade that sent him to Colorado. Rumfield simply needed a runway to take off, and he found that away from the Yankees.
Yankees Traded NL Rookie of Year Contender: ‘Really Shocked’