Jazz Chisholm Jr. will hit the open market five days after the World Series, and the New York Yankees may not want to pay him after the year he had.
Chisholm has already expressed his desire to be back with the Yankees, but he is still going to want to be paid as a top-tier second baseman. The Yankees should not commit a ton of money to him after the year he had and his track record with injuries. In fact, no team should. This will likely turn into one of those situations where he looks for a big deal, teams move on and then he settles for a "prove it" type deal.
NJ.com's Yankees insider Randy Miller predicted the Yankees would let Chisholm walk, and he would sign a one-year, $10.2 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.
"Chisholm was dead serious in spring training when he told me he expected his free agent value would be $35 million a year for eight to nine seasons," Miller wrote of Chisholm. "The same day he told me he wanted to follow up on first 30-homer, 30-steal season with a 50/50. Instead of pulling a Shohei Ohtani, Chisholm had a bad season all-around. His average, homers, RBI and OPS all dropped significantly. His fielding regressed, too. In FanGraphs’ Defensive Runs Saved metrics, his minus-6 rating ranked third worst among 17 qualifying second basemen. There’s that, and then there’s his behavior. He needs a babysitter, and trust me, he’s forced Judge to be a hands-on captain. When you look at his time with the Yankees, there has been plenty of highlights, but he’s hit .181 in all three of his Yankees postseasons with three homers, three RBI and 21 strikeouts in 99 plate appearances. He’s also committed four errors in 25 postseason games."
Going from the Yankees to the Angels will be a huge change for Chisholm. The Angels are not competing for a World Series like the Yankees are, but those are the types of teams that will give Chisholm a chance if he wants to prove he should be paid as an elite second baseman.
No team with World Series aspirations is going to want to sign a second baseman trying to prove his worth when there are better options available. His end as a Yankee will not be remembered fondly, as he made a bad error in Game 2 of the American League Division Series and then tried to justify his ill-advised throw. He was benched in Game 3 and booed after his pinch-hit appearance.
"For so many reasons, the Yankees will turn the page on Chisholm," wrote Miller.
The Angels had the second-worst record in baseball this season, and if Chisholm wants to prove his value, being the best player on a terrible team could help. If he plays well, the Angels would likely trade him to a contender at the trade deadline.