Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Could Be A 2027 Free-Agent Option For The Angels

When it was announced it seemed like a match made in heaven: the New York Yankees were acquiring the charismatic Jazz Chisholm from the Miami Marlins to fill their hole at second base at the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

At first, those assumptions were true, as Chisholm hit .273 over the final 46 games of the season with 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases, helping the Yankees advance to the World Series where they fell in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That appeared to be just the appetizer as Chisholm followed with a 4.1-bWAR season in 2025 courtesy career highs with 31 homers and 80 RBIs with 31 stolen bases.

Then 2026 occurred. While Chisholm did set a career high in stolen bases with 41, he slumped to a career-worst .231 average and .711 OPS.

Still, the Yankees qualified for the postseason as the AL's top wild-card seed, but Chisholm's year didn't get much better once the calendar turned to October. He did go 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs scored in the one game he played as the Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card Series.

The AL Divisional Series against the Tampa Bay Rays was a different story. Starting the first two games, Chisholm went 0-for-8 with one walk. Then, with the Yankees trailing the series 2-0 and needing three consecutive wins to salvage their season, manager Aaron Boone benched Chisholm in favor of Anthony Volpe in Game 3, which New York would go on to lose 4-3 as they were swept out of the playoffs.

Chisholm did pinch hit in Game 3 and went 0-for 2 while hearing boos from the Yankees' faithful after he popped out in the seventh inning.

“It’s just confusing because it’s the playoffs and we’re trying to win games,” Chisholm said after the contest, according to a report by Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. “So, you’re booing a guy that’s playing currently, trying to help the team win? And I’m hearing boos instead of trying to hype guys up, you know what I mean?”

So, with Chisholm about to enter free agency, does that mean he's done with The Bronx?

His statements regarding that prospect have been contradictory. First off, Chisholm, who grew up a Yankees' fan in the Bahamas, has insisted he wouldn't mind continuing to call Yankee Stadium home.

“I’ve had a great time being a Yankee,” he said in Kuty's report. “Who doesn’t want to stay with a team that you’ve had such great times with and great years with? To see it maybe end here sucks, but it’s part of the business.”

On the other hand, not only was he unhappy, according to Kuty, that Boone benched him for Game 3, but that he did so without first letting him know in advance.

“Yeah,” Chisholm said, “I always prefer a conversation so I would at least know what I’m walking into.”

So, with the door at least cracked that Chisholm would depart does it behoove the Los Angeles Angels to at least kick his tires?

The Angels employed Oswaldo Peraza for 115 games, Adam Frazier for 67 games and Christian Moore for 38 games at second base this season without getting much production from any of them. Despite struggling for most of the second half, Peraza led the way with seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 115 games, while Frazier, who will turn 35 in December, had the highest average at .240, and Moore, still a relatively well-regarded prospect, managed just a .187 average in 134 at-bats.

That lack of production had Brian Burrows of Halo Hangout pleading for the Angels to sign Chisholm.

"As far as the Angels are concerned, Chisholm would be a great fit with their team," Burrows wrote on Oct. 9. "Some Angels fans may be concerned that signing him would block young players they are hoping to get playing time, like Christian Moore, but Chisholm isn't limited to just second. In 2025, he split time between second and third for the Yankees, and in 2024 he was the Marlins' everyday center fielder before he was traded. He could easily start his Angels career as a center fielder...but transition back to the infield as he ages."

So, maybe after years of being out of tune, it is time for the Angels to add a Little "Jazz" to their repertoire, especially coming off a franchise-worst 62-100 season.