Yankees' Jazz Chisholm trade just gained new life after Marlins demotion

When the New York Yankees acquired Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the 2024 trade deadline, they paid a fair price to obtain his services from the Miami Marlins. New York sent three prospects down to South Florida, with the headliner being power-hitting catcher Agustin Ramirez.

At the time, Ramirez was a casualty of the Yankees' then-superb catching depth. Austin Wells was ahead of him and already in the bigs, and the club had a group of other prospects led by Rafael Flores, plus another potential major league-caliber backstop in Carlos Narvaez.

Chisholm Jr. was great for the Yankees down the 2024 stretch, learning third base on the fly and hitting .273/.325/.500 over the season's final 46 games. However, the deal was always going to be judged against Ramirez's performance.

Ramirez would make a statement in his MLB debut in late April of 2025, and from that point forward questions would start to seep in. Wells struggled to establish himself offensively, a trend that continues to this day, while Ramirez's power bat took off in the Miami heat.

While Chisholm Jr. continued to be a solid contributor, it was worth questioning if they'd have been better off with Ramirez and a different infield solution, given the difficulty of finding offensively competent catchers. That came to a head last August, when New York was in the midst of another summer swoon, and Ramirez and the Marlins quickly laid waste to them and their new crop of relievers acquired at the trade deadline.

Marlins' Agustin Ramirez decision proves once and for all that Yankees won Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade

Ramirez would finish his rookie campaign with 21 homers and a .231/.287/.413 line. While his power was impressive, the overall offensive package produced just a 91 wRC+, and his shoddy defense ensured that he provided no real value, finishing the season with 0.0 fWAR.

Miami hoped the 24-year-old would take another step forward in 2026, but after 31 games, Ramirez had done the opposite. A .231/.318/.345 line showed that he hadn't made any gains in the contact department, while his power had fallen off. The defense was still well below average, too, and the Marlins had finally seen enough, demoting him to Triple-A over the weekend.

Replacing Ramirez behind the plate will be 23-year-old Joe Mack, Miami's No. 4 overall prospect. Mack is a left-handed hitter with plenty of power, but unlike Ramirez, he also has some defensive chops behind the plate. If he hits the ground running, Ramirez might never see the light of day in Miami again.

As for the other prospects the Yankees gave up in the deal, infielder Jared Serna went to the Marlins with a reputation for being a contact-first bat, but now that he's reached the upper minors he has hit .224 between Double-A and Triple-A last season, and .232 so far this year at the minors' highest level.

Infielder Abrahan Ramirez is a 21-year-old in A-ball. With the Yankees, he had put up impressive numbers in the Dominican Summer League and the Florida Complex League, but now he is in his second year in Single-A and is still trying to find his footing. It will be a long while before we really know what he'll become.

As for the Yankees, Chisholm Jr. hasn't been without his ups and downs, but if we're being fair, there have been far more peaks than valleys. He became the third player ever in club history to record a 30-30 season last year, and though he got off to a frigid start this year, he's beginning to heat up.

Chisholm Jr. hit his first homer of the season on April 23 in Boston, which has kicked off a 10-game stretch in which he's slashed .297/.372/.541. He now has three dingers on the year. A free agent at the end of the season, who knows what the future holds. That's irrelevant, though. In trading Ramirez and the others, the Yankees were acquiring 2.5 years of Chisholm's services, and in that time he's reached greater heights than he ever did with Miami. This latest development with Ramirez makes it clear that we can mark this deal down as a win.

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