Miami Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm is a twenty-four-year-old left-handed hitter with plus defense, enormous power, and over four more years of team control. He also is one of the most exciting young players in baseball and is the face of the Marlins. When reports surface that his team is unhappy with him off the field, it is easy for fans of other teams to dream about trading for him, especially if off-field concerns reduce his value to even a minuscule degree.
Before going further, it is important to note that the “off-field concerns” with Chisholm are, at least according to all public reports, trivial issues such as the way he dresses and carries himself, rather than any sort of illegal activity. The absurdity of the situation speaks to how Chisholm (at least to an outsider) may not be a fit for the Marlins’ culture, which —consistent with old-school baseball standards — appears to discourage attention to specific individuals over the team as a whole.
In the Jon Heyman article linked in the first paragraph, one of Heyman’s sources suggests that Chisholm’s teammates are simply jealous of the attention Chisholm has received this year, and that despite the accusations of off-field issues, Chisholm is a hard worker. Kim Ng, the Marlins’ general manager (and former White Sox assistant baseball operations director) was also quoted in the article:
While Ng’s quotes are harmless on the surface, it is at least somewhat surprising that neither she nor the Marlins organization issued a stronger statement in support of Chisholm. Many expected a response more along the lines of, “While we cannot provide specific details about the team meeting, we support Jazz Chisholm and are proud that he is a member of the Miami Marlins.” A stronger statement also would have been more effective at protecting Chisholm from future speculation, as having off-field question marks arise around a young player are not ideal, especially when they are seemingly unwarranted and easily preventable.
Where does he fit on the White Sox, and what would they need to acquire him?
Read the rest of this article and find out what it may take to acquire Chisholm at soxon35th.com!
