Yankees Reportedly Targeting Jazz Chisholm Jr. as Trade Deadline Nears

The Major League Baseball trade deadline is less than three weeks away, and the New York Yankees are expected to be one of the most active buyers.

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The Yankees, who appeared to be baseball’s best team just a few weeks ago, have gone 6-17 since June 15, and haven’t won any of their last eight series.

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The Yankees have tons of holes to fill come the July 30 deadline. They need starting pitching help in a suddenly struggling rotation, they need bullpen help, and they desperately need infield help — and they appear to be targeting a former All-Star for the latter.

On Thursday, the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported the Yankees have “discussed” Jazz Chisholm Jr. with the Miami Marlins. Chisholm, an All-Star in 2022, shifted to the outfield in 2023, but played second base and shortstop for the first three years of his career.

While Chisholm hasn’t been a great defender in the outfield, he was an above-average defender at second base, and enjoyed the best offensive season of his career when he was a full-time second baseman in 2022. Since then, his production has dropped a bit, but he’s still slashing .255/.324/.419 with 12 home runs, 42 runs batted in, and 18 stolen bases this season.

Heyman added, “The extent of the interest is unknown, but Chisholm likely would play mostly infield, a Yankees need.”

The Yankees’ infield has been an immense struggle this season. Second baseman Gleyber Torres has morphed into a below-average hitter after back-to-back 20-homer seasons. Third baseman D.J. LeMahieu has been even worse, while shortstop Anthony Volpe has fallen off after a hot start to the season. Ben Rice has added some much-needed offensive production at first base since Anthony Rizzo’s injury, but it hasn’t been enough to make up for the lack of offense from his infield counterparts.

Chisholm would be a great candidate to move back to the infield — likely second base — and add some length to the Yankees’ lineup. Chisholm is also under team control through the 2026 season, so he would give the Yankees some future stability at second base, too.

The Marlins are one of the few teams in MLB who are set to be clear sellers at this year’s deadline. After making a surprise postseason run a year ago, the Marlins are now 32-61, and are better than only the Chicago White Sox this season.

The Marlins are going in the wrong direction and likely will need a few years to get back into contention. That makes Chisholm a prime candidate to get moved in the next few weeks.