Marlins, Yankees announce Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade

The Miami Marlins have struck a deal to move their most valuable trade deadline chip. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is going to the New York Yankees in exchange for catching prospect Agustín Ramírez and infield prospects Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramírez. The trade has been announced by both teams.

Chisholm finishes his Marlins career with a .246/.309/.440 slash line (103 wRC+) and 8.0 fWAR in 403 career games. He earned a National League All-Star selection in 2022. This news breaks almost five years to the day that he was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the 2019 deadline.

During his age-26 season, Chisholm was leading all Marlins players in runs batted in (50), runs scored (46) and stolen bases (22). His .730 OPS was tops on the team among those with at least 100 plate appearances.

Chisholm will very likely slide into the leadoff spot for his new club, where the Yanks have received an 83 wRC+ from their No. 1 hitters this season. With that role vacated in the Marlins lineup, expect Xavier Edwards to get an extended opportunity there. Forrest Wall is seemingly first in line to fill Chisholm's spot on the active roster.

Other teams presented the Marlins with "very competitive offers" for Chisholm, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid. The Marlins "felt this was the best one."

Ramírez, who turns 23 in September, is slashing .269/.358/.505 with 20 home runs in 87 Double-A/Triple-A games this season, stealing 18 bases in 20 attempts. Baseball America is encouraged by the progress that he's made, ranking him third on their latest Yankees Top 30 prospects list behind only Jasson Dominguez and Spencer Jones (I had suggested Jones as the potential Jazz trade centerpiece in a proposal earlier this month).

A crucial question here is whether Ramírez will stick at catcher long term. In 2024, he has made 50 starts behind the plate and 22 at first base, surrendering 90 steals as a catcher with a microscopic 9 CS% rate. Worth noting, though, he caught at least 20% of would-be base-stealers in each of his previous seasons. Reviews of his framing, receiving and blocking have been mixed for the right-handed-hitting Dominican.

Ramírez will go straight onto Miami's 40-man roster and seems likely to make his major league debut before year's end.

Baseball America recently ranked Serna 11th in the Yankees system. He has shown surprising game power despite his tiny 5'7" stature, including 19 homers last year in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League and 13 homers through 88 High-A games this year.

During the 2023-24 offseason, Serna played for Charros de Jalisco in his native Mexico. As a 21-year-old, he performed extremely well against much older winter ball competition, slashing .310/.365/.478 in 61 games.

Defensively, the Yankees have been developing Serna as a shortstop. The Fish can do the same given their lack of viable alternatives at the High-A and Double-A levels. 

Not yet on the 40-man, Serna will be eligible for the upcoming Rule 5 Draft.

The younger Ramírez, 19-year-old Abrahan, has raked in rookie ball with a .333/.454/.467 slash line across three Dominican Summer League/Florida Complex League seasons. He's a native of Acarigua, Venezuela. He was unranked on BA's Top 30.

All things considered, this is an okay return for an above-average regular under club control through 2026 who has plus tools, but a lengthy injury history. It's painful nonetheless to see the Marlins ship away a fan favorite who may be just entering the prime of his career rather than focus on retaining him long term.