The New York Yankees made their first move of trade deadline season on Saturday when they acquired Jazz Chisholm from the Miami Marlins.
Several sources reported the deal, though SportsGrid’s Craig Mish was first. The Yankees sent catching prospect Agustin Ramirez along with low-level prospects Abrahan Ramirez and Jared Serna to the Marlins in the deal.
Ramirez in particular was having a strong season in the minor leagues, batting .269 with 20 home runs and an .862 OPS across Double and Triple-A. Unfortunately, the 22-year-old’s path to the Bronx was blocked by Austin Wells. Miami’s catchers haven’t hit well all season, so don’t be surprised if he debuts soon.
Chisholm’s role on the Yankees, however, isn’t as clear. The easy part is he’ll immediately slot into the starting lineup, having hit .249 with 13 home runs and a respectable .316 wOBA. He’s gotten a bit lucky with a .311 BABIP, but he’s increased his walks and cut his strikeouts this season. Furthermore, as NJ.com’s Max Goodman pointed out, some of Chisholm’s outs at LoanDepot Park in Miami would have been home runs in Yankee Stadium.
Rather, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone need to solve the Rubiks Cube of where to play Chisholm. He was the Marlins’ everyday center fielder, yet his stats have that oh-so-inconvenient contradiction. Chisholm has a -14 career defensive runs saved (DRS) in center, but five outs above average (OAA). His fielding run value (FRV) is +6.
That rules out center, since captain Aaron Judge will play there once Giancarlo Stanton is back from the injured list on Monday. The Yankees’ greater need is in the infield, and Jazz Chisholm actually came up as a second baseman.
But despite a +7 DRS and +8 OAA at second, Chisholm is blocked there by Gleyber Torres’ far-inferior glove. Torres is also batting .316 in his last 20 games, so he too could be traded to make room for Chisholm in the field.
Otherwise, it looks like Cashman is taking a big gamble and trying Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third base. The Yankees desperately need help there with DJ LeMahieu’s continued decline. Could we soon see Chisholm platoon the hot corner with the switch-hitting Oswaldo Cabrera?
And will his strong personality fit in this supposedly tight clubhouse?
We’ll soon find out.
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