Why a move to shortstop may help Jazz, Marlins

When the Miami Marlins swung a deal on trade deadline day 2019 to send then-rookie pitcher Zac Gallen to the Arizona Diamondbacks for their then-top prospect Jazz Chisholm Jr., the hope was that Chisholm would become Miami's shortstop of the future.

It hasn't quite panned out that way. We have seen glimpses of excellence from Chisholm since he broke through to the majors in late 2020, but never has he sustained it across a full season. Meanwhile, Gallen is on the short list of Major League Baseball's most valuable pitchers over the last half-decade.

This lopsided exchange has not been entirely one-sided, though. Chisholm has produced a respectable 105 OPS+ and 7.1 bWAR in his time with Miami, and it feels as if the eventual breakout is still pending. Even in what was thought to be a breakout campaign in 2022 that saw him make the NL All-Star team, a right lower back strain would ultimately prematurely end his season. He's still only 26 years old.

Chisholm's journey has been complicated by position changes. Miguel Rojas steadied the shortstop position for the Fish through 2022, so the talented Bahamian initially became a second baseman (1,308 ⅓ innings between 2020-2022). When the Marlins added Luis Arraez ahead of the 2023 season, Chisholm volunteered to move to center field. That's been his full-time defensive home ever since.

Now, there is an opportunity to reconsider. With Miami off to a historically bad 9-25 start, they dealt the aforementioned Arraez to the San Diego Padres on May 4. The Marlins have won games at a decent clip during the ensuing month, but it's still evident that they are not going back to the postseason. Every decision they make should be with an eye on the July 30 trade deadline or the club's roster construction for 2025 and beyond.

Chisholm will undoubtedly attract suitors at the deadline. He's been durable for a change while also upping his production against left-handed pitching. Appearing in 58 of the club's first 59 games played, Chisholm has hit .257/.327/.441/.768, good enough for a 115 OPS+. Chisholm's power-speed combination has him in elite company as well. Entering Sunday, he is one of just four players with at least 8 home runs and 11 stolen bases, joining Elly De La Cruz (9 HR/32 SB), Bobby Witt Jr. (9 HR/17 SB) and Shohei Ohtani (14 HR/14 SB), the rest of whom have no chance of being pried from their current employers.

Over the last two years, we have experienced a full season's worth of the "Jazz in center field" experiment (153 games/1,279 ⅔ innings). It's been a mixed bag, accruing minus-12 defensive runs saved, including minus-3 DRS in 2024. He made another thrilling catch in CF on Saturday, but it was reminiscent of a similar play in 2023 that resulted in a turf toe injury and extended absence.

Could Chisholm increase his trade value with a move to his original shortstop position?

In just 37 games there in 2021, Chisholm committed 10 errors and had minus-4 DRS. Worth noting, he has increased his arm strength during the interim. Chisholm has gone from ranking in the 29th percentile at his position to the 61st percentile, per Baseball Savant, though only 3 of his shortstop errors were of the throwing variety.

This option is on the table due to the demise of former batting champion Tim Anderson. Signed to a one-year/$5M deal on the heels of a career-worst 61 OPS+ 2023, the TA renaissance that fans and Marlins front-office personnel had hoped for has not materialized. Somehow, he's been even worse in 2024. Among the 217 MLB hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, Anderson's 27 OPS+ ranks dead last thanks in large part to his poor plate discipline (7 BB/46 K) and continued power outage (.214 SLG). After posting the lowest DRS total among shortstops in 2023 at minus-16, Anderson is trending in familiarly poor territory this season at minus-3 in his 43 games there.

Even if the Fish don't want to sever ties with Anderson just yet, he is clearly no longer suited for an everyday role. Doing whatever's best for Chisholm should take priority.

Also consider that there need not be a binary choice between center field and the middle infield. Earlier in his career, Ketel Marte demonstrated the versatility to alternate from one to the other. Comparable to Chisholm, Marte posted a .712 OPS in his first four seasons before a 149 OPS+/6.9 bWAR 2019 launched him to a fourth-place NL MVP finish. He achieved this while seeing extensive time at center field (89 GS) and second base (45 GS), as well as parts of 11 games at shortstop.

When the Arizona Diamondbacks bottomed out in 2021 with a 52-110 record, Marte was thought to be one of the most desirable trade targets in the sport for obvious reasons. Instead of flipping him for prospects, the D-backs built around him, inking the then-28-year-old to a five-year/$76M extension. Just two seasons later, he was crucial to their improbable run to the National League pennant.

Although Chisholm is primarily auditioning for the rest of the league, he's also trying to show the Marlins' new Peter Bendix-led front office what he's capable of. If his skill set is rare enough, they may prefer to invest in him through his prime years rather than rebuild without him.