Mariners Trade Target: Do Jazz Chisholm Jr. rumors have legs?

The speculation for the Seattle Mariners ahead of the MLB trade deadline is focused on a new subject: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

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The Miami Marlins outfielder was linked to the M’s on Sunday in MLB insider Bob Nightengale’s weekly column for USA Today, just a few weeks ahead of MLB’s July 30 deadline.

“The Miami Marlins have been hoping they could trade center fielder Jazz Chisholm all season, with the Seattle Mariners emerging as the favorites to land him,” wrote Nightengale.

To get a good sense of how real this rumor is, Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy connected on Monday with the Miami Herald senior baseball contributor Craig Mish, who also is an MLB Network contributor.

Mish confirmed the Mariners’ interest in Chisholm, but also pointed out how there’s still plenty of time before the Marlins need to do something if they indeed move on from him this month.

“The Mariners definitely have some interest in Jazz,” Mish said, “but to say, at least in my opinion, that it’s like a guarantee, I think that goes too far for me just based on my intel. I think that several teams will be interested in him.”

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The 26-year-old Chisholm is certainly an interesting player as a one-time All-Star with a recognizable name and personality. An All-Star in 2022, he finished that year with a strong .860 OPS, but injuries held him to only 60 games. As for this year, he’s slashing .249/.321/.407 in 93 games for a .727 OPS with 12 home runs and 18 stolen bases, numbers that are pretty similar to what he did in 97 games in 2023 (with a bit less slugging and a little more on-base this year).

Mish thinks Chisholm, who transitioned from second base to center field ahead of the 2023 season, would make sense for the first-place Mariners in a struggling lineup that limped to the All-Star break.

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“It definitely fills a need for the Mariners and you could check some boxes there with his ability to play the outfield, his ability to play the infield,” he said. “And in my opinion, the Mariners are… one team that should not be sitting pat at the deadline. The fans really deserve a run here, I think, from that organization. It’s been a while since they’ve gone deep into the playoffs and the pitching is just too good to sit back.

“They do match up well. You know, there are some (Mariners) prospects I think that would fit Miami, and I think Jazz would fit in well in Seattle, and and I do think that there’s certainly some legs to this. … The deadline is a couple of weeks away, but two weeks away is like an eternity in the deadline in baseball.”

The concerns

Chisholm’s name may be the most polarizing of any believed to be on the trade market, especially since he was voted most overrated in a survey of MLB players conducted by The Athletic that was published last month. This comes a year after he graced the cover of the “MLB The Show” video game.

Mish splashed some water on that perception of Chisholm.

“I can understand that because he was on the cover of ‘MLB The Show’ and, you know, he’s a flashy player. But I would say that any sense of being overrated may be in the past… just cause he’s had a hard time staying on the field (before) but he has played virtually every game the Marlins have played in this year,” Mish said. “And he’s played the right way this year, too. I think he’s grown up quite a bit over the last year or two. I just don’t buy that, I guess is what I’m saying. I mean, he probably has a few players in the league that are his enemy or jealous. I personally think he’s a very good player. Is he a fantastic All-Star, perennial MVP type? No, he has not proven that yet.”

Listen to the full Bump and Stacy conversation with the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish in the middle segment of the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

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