The Yankees are making moves.
Things have been ugly in the Bronx recently, but the Bombers are still very likely playoff-bound. And with Juan Soto, whom the Yankees acquired over the winter for a mountain of prospects, potentially gone in free agency, this season has a must-win glint all over it.
On Saturday, the club dealt a trio of prospects to the Miami Marlins for Jazz Chisholm Jr., a center fielder with infield experience.
For the Yankees, who find themselves in the midst of an abysmal 11-23 stretch, any offensive addition is a welcome sight, water in the desert. And while Chisholm has been merely a league-average hitter this season, a league-average hitter is something this searching-for-answers Yankees lineup desperately needs. How Chisholm slots in defensively will be a complex circus (more on that later), but his bat should offer an immediate jolt.
Notably, the 26-year-old is having the healthiest season of his career … so far. Chisholm, who was having an All-Star breakout season in 2022 before injuries derailed his campaign, has always showcased a tantalizing offensive skill set. This season, he’s striking out less and walking more, but he still chases more than you’d like and has struggled to elevate the ball consistently at optimal angles.
Still, there’s a lot to like here. Chisholm, who has 87th-percentile sprint speed, gives the Yankees another stolen-base threat. His left-handed pull-happy tendencies will be a great fit for Yankee Stadium. And for the punchless Yankees, who haven’t won three consecutive games since early June, anything is something.
Let’s talk about Jazz’s “character concerns”
Chisholm, who was born and raised in the Bahamas, has developed a reputation for being something of a difficult character. There’s no doubt that his hyper-confident, unapologetically brash demeanor has rubbed some around the game the wrong way. Some believe Chisholm carries himself like a superstar without the track record or production of a superstar. According to multiple sources, there were teams wary of trading for Chisholm at this deadline due to concerns about how he might fit in the clubhouse.
But many around the game, including some around the Marlins, think the concerns about Chisholm’s personality are overblown, and the lukewarm responses to his attitude are undeniably intertwined with baseball culture’s regressive tendencies toward cocky, bold, Black players. Chisholm has invited some portion of the criticism — his decision to openly critique former teammate Miguel Rojas on a podcast earlier this year was seen by many as unwise — but there’s a belief that he has received a disproportionate amount of scorn.
It’s also worth noting that he has spent the entirety of his career playing for a disorganized, mostly horrible Marlins team. Things could certainly go haywire with Jazz in The Bronx, but odds are Yankees captain Aaron Judge and the rest of the clubhouse will help him acclimate.
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Where does Chisholm fit in the Yankees’ lineup?
Chisholm came up through the minor leagues as a shortstop, then moved to second base for his first few MLB seasons. When the Marlins traded for second baseman Luis Arraez in January 2023, Chisholm was pushed to center field, a position he’d never played as a pro. He has since been Miami’s every-day center fielder the past two seasons, though the club had Chisholm play a handful of games at his old second-base spot recently to try to up his trade value.
The results in the outfield — advanced defensive metrics say he’s a slightly below-average center fielder — need to be put into context, considering Chisholm’s lack of experience there. More specifically, all that will matter to the Yankees is that Chisholm should be better in center than Judge.
For the first few months of this season, the Yankees captain was the de facto every-day center fielder. But when Giancarlo Stanton went down due to a hamstring issue in late June, it opened up the DH spot for Judge and Soto, which has led to more center-field time for the wonderfully mustachioed, strikeout-prone Trent Grisham. With Stanton due back next week, it was fair to expect more center-field appearances for Judge. But while it’s incredible that the 6-foot-7 giant can play even a competent defensive center field, the Yankees will simply be better with him in a corner and Chisholm in center.
That leaves Alex Verdugo, an impending free agent the Yankees acquired from Boston over the winter, as the immediate odd man out. Verdugo simply hasn’t hit this season, and Chisholm’s arrival pushes him to a more regular bench role, unless he’s traded or DFA’d.
Things get even more interesting when you fold in Jasson Domínguez, the former Yankees über-prospect who has missed the entire season thus far due to injuries. The 21-year-old outfielder just returned to action in Triple-A and should be with the big-league club soon. His arrival will further complicate how the puzzle pieces fit defensively.
With a healthy Stanton DHing, the Yankees could roll out Soto and Judge in the corners and Domínguez in center. That would push Chisholm to the infield, where he could theoretically replace the painfully over-the-hill DJ LeMahieu. However, neither Jazz nor 2B Gleyber Torres has ever played third base, where LeMahieu has spent most of his time.
That all means one of the following: 1) Somebody (Gleyber or Jazz) will be learning how to play third base. 2) Domínguez is staying in Triple-A for a while. Or 3) There’s another trade coming involving either Torres or Dominguez.
The existential issue about this deadline for the Yankees is that their biggest area needing improvement — third base — doesn’t match the realities of this year’s trade market. There really aren’t any impact third basemen available. Tampa Bay’s Isaac Paredes, a 2024 All-Star, is one, but he has a ton of team control left and would cost a haul.
Stay tuned.
