2) YANKEES ACQUIRE CF/2B JAZZ CHISHOLM JR. FROM MARLINS
Where will Chisholm fit in the Bronx? It was the main topic at hand in New York after the trade, given that the club has a nearly-fully-healthy outfield and an incumbent second baseman in Gleyber Torres – and, notably, an enormous trouble spot at third base. But those are the kinds of things that always work themselves out, especially given that the seven spots in the lineup where Aaron Judge and Juan Soto don’t hit have been a bottom-third unit.
Chisholm, despite his video game cover fame, hasn’t ever really been a star, posting an almost exactly league-average 102 OPS+ in his time with Miami. You can’t even make too much of the fact that he’s hit better away from pitcher-friendly Marlins Park this year, given that he hadn’t really shown such splits over his career. But even if he’s “only” a league average bat, that’s an upgrade for the Yankees, and at age 26, there’s still time for upside here – as he showed on Monday and Tuesday with back-to-back two-homer games, as well as his willingness to try the hot corner.
All that aside, there’s also the simple fact that he brings something the Yankees do not have, which is speed. Baseball’s slowest team now has its new fastest player (setting aside the long-injured Jon Berti); over the last four years, Chisholm has stolen 80 bases despite missing chunks of time to injury, nearly twice as much as any Yankee. He’ll add an element of excitement that the roster hasn’t had aside from the Two Big Boys, and he’s under team control for two seasons beyond this one.
See complete article at https://www.mlb.com/news/2024-mlb-trade-deadline-deals-ranked?partnerId=it-20240731-10618775-mlb-1-A&utm_id=it-20240731-10618775-mlb-1-A&lctg=4001587770
