BOSTON — Jazz Chisholm Jr. said he got messages from everyone, including the prime minister of his native Bahamas, when he got traded to the New York Yankees on Saturday.
The Yankees might want to send messages to UPS, FedEx or Amazon — anyone who could get the next guy they trade for to them faster and with less trouble than what Chisholm had to go through to arrive for his Yankees debut in an 8-2 win Sunday over the Boston Red Sox.
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When the Yankees acquired Chisholm in exchange for a trio of prospects, he was with the Miami Marlins for a road series against the Milwaukee Brewers. His flight, scheduled to get in about 3 p.m. Sunday, took an extra hour to land as it circled Boston Logan International Airport for a clear runway. Then the car taking him to Fenway Park — where he was slated to start in center field and hit fifth — needed an extra half-hour to arrive thanks to gridlock traffic.
“It’s been really hectic,” Chisholm said.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. picks up his first career hit as a Yankee! pic.twitter.com/8iBaMXebvs
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) July 29, 2024
To top it off, he took an elbow to the face from second baseman Jamie Westbrook during a ninth-inning collision, sending him to the ground for several minutes and prompting manager Aaron Boone and a trainer to jog out and check on him.
“It hit me right in the jaw clean, spun me a little bit,” Chisholm said.
Chisholm went 1-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base.
“He’s going to be great, man,” left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “You obviously saw it today. Fresh off the plane, coming here, getting an infield hit and stealing a base. … It’s going to be big.”
The Yankees delighted in seeing Jazz Chisholm Jr. take third Sunday night when no one was covering the bag. (Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
The Chisholm deal was the Yankees’ only trade they have made with Tuesday’s deadline approaching. Here are some more notes from around the team:
Spencer Jones isn’t untouchable
The Yankees have essentially made it clear to teams that Jasson Dominguez is untouchable, but the same can’t be said for fellow top outfield prospect Spencer Jones, league sources said.
The Yankees very much don’t want to deal Jones, their first-round pick from 2022 who has drawn Aaron Judge comparisons for his size, athleticism and power. But his season has given pause to some in the organization. Going into Sunday, he had a 37.4 percent strikeout rate at Double-A Somerset, and he’s hit just .234 with 11 home runs and a .717 OPS in 81 games. Two opposing scouts who saw the 6-foot-6 Jones earlier in the season said that rather than fitting the stereotype of a prototypical big-man hacker, Jones was perhaps a bit too passive at the plate and that an adjustment he made in his batting stance since his hot spring training didn’t seem to be helping.
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Other Yankees prospects who seem to be on the team’s almost-untouchable-but-not-quite level were shortstop George Lombard Jr., the Yankees’ 2023 first-round pick, and starting pitcher Chase Hampton, one league source said.
More trade notes
Early Sunday, the Yankees were still in contact with the Tampa Bay Rays about third baseman Isaac Paredes before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. The team remained interested in first baseman Yandy Díaz, a league source said. The Yankees are unsettled at first base, and Díaz, who is under team control through 2025, would be a big upgrade. Through 97 games, he’s hit .270 with nine homers, 47 RBIs and a .723 OPS, though he’s just a season removed from being an All-Star and leading the American League in batting average, at .330, and with a .932 OPS.
The Yankees had checked in on San Francisco Giants ace Blake Snell, who had a rough beginning to his year but has a 0.75 ERA over his last four starts, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. But, a league source said, a Yankees trade for the left-hander would seem highly unlikely unless the Giants were paying down a substantial portion of his remaining salary. Snell is owed the remainder of his $15 million salary for this season, and he has a $30 million player option for 2025. And if that option is picked up, $15 million will be deferred and paid in 2027, according to Cots Contracts.
As of Sunday evening, the Yankees were also interested in St. Louis Cardinals utilityman Tommy Edman, according to The Athletic’s Katie Woo. The Yankees had scouts at Edman’s rehab game Saturday.
Awkwardness with DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres?
The trade for Chisholm made for a bit of weirdness.
Boone spoke with second baseman Torres about potentially playing some third base in deference to Chisholm, who has played center field the past two seasons but was once considered a high-level defender at second base. Boone said Torres prefers to stay at second base but that the 27-year-old would take grounders at third base just in case. Torres will also be a free agent at the end of the season and likely doesn’t want to hurt his value playing out of position.
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Torres didn’t seem happy about the idea late Sunday night, though he said “everything is still on the table.” He said he played third base in the minors — back in 2018 — only because it was a faster way to the majors at the time.
“I don’t like it,” he said about playing third base back then.
“I’m a second baseman, so I’ll play second,” he added.
Meanwhile, LeMahieu sat in deference to Oswaldo Cabrera for the third straight game Sunday. Boone offered a nebulous answer when asked about where the 36-year-old fits.
“We’ll see,” Boone said. “Baseball is constantly changing, throwing you curves. You think this one day. The bottom line is DJ has been a great player and still very much in the mix at all the infield spots, and we’ll see how it shakes out.”
LeMahieu, who had a sacrifice fly in his only at-bat Sunday, was amid a terrible season at the plate while garnering mixed reviews defensively, too. He was hitting just .176 with one home run and 13 RBIs in 45 games with a .490 OPS after Sunday’s win.
(Top photo of Aaron Judge greeting new teammate Jazz Chisholm Jr. before Sunday’s game: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
Brendan Kuty is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees and MLB. He has covered the Yankees since 2014, most recently as a beat reporter for NJ Advance Media. Brendan was honored to receive the 2022 New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year award from the National Sports Media Association. He attended William Paterson University and the County College of Morris, and he is from Hopatcong, N.J.
