Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. headache recalls trade road not taken by Mariners

Ever look at a situation another team is going through with one of its players and think, "That could have been us?" Simply by virtue of Jerry Dipoto's transactional nature, this is certainly a thing for Mariners fans. And right now, it's fair wonder about an alternate history of the 2024 trade deadline.

Come hell or high water, the Mariners were going to get a bat that summer. And for a second there, it seemed like Jazz Chisholm Jr. was going to be the guy. The Marlins were shopping him at the time, and the Mariners were purportedly emerging as the favorites for him at one point.

This, of course, didn't lead to anything between Miami and Seattle. Chisholm instead went to the Yankees, with the Mariners hitting up the Rays for Randy Arozarena. It's all funny to think about now, as you can imagine the Mariners landing a talented yet occasionally frustrating player either way.

How glad should the Mariners be that Jazz Chisholm Jr. is the Yankees' problem?

For anyone in the Pacific Northwest who hasn't been paying attention to what's happening in the Bronx, both the Yankees and Chisholm have recently been experiencing a rug pull.

The Yankees opened this year with their usual World Series aspirations, and all seemed well when they started 7-1. But now they're 8-7, and Chisholm is a big part of the problem. He's only batting .179 and he has yet to collect even one homer to go with his six stolen bases. That puts his 50-50 goal very much off-track.

It's worth pressing pause and acknowledging that dunking on Chisholm is kind of old hat. His personality rubs some people the wrong way, but that says more about them than it does about him. Heck, we were stumping for the Mariners to try again for him just a few months ago.

Yet if there is a fair criticism of Chisholm, it's that his on-field play is all sorts of volatile. This is not the first time he's just plain looked bad at the dish, and him making mental mistakes is not uncommon. And right now, Yankees fans are as much in an uproar over one of those as they are about Chisholm's silent bat.

Meanwhile, the Mariners have Arozarena.

There is room for debate as to whether they've made out better as a result. Arozarena has played in more games (230 vs. 191) and posted more rWAR (5.8 vs. 5.5) as a Mariner than Chisholm has as a Yankee, but the latter has advantages in home runs (42 vs. 33) and stolen bases (55 vs. 38). And whether it's with his left field defense or his potty mouth, Arozarena has also proved capable of causing headaches.

What we absolutely can say for Arozarena is that he's the one having the better time right now. His defense is still an adventure, but he sure looks like he's in salary drive mode on offense. He's rocking a .426 OBP and he's hitting the ball better than his .400 SLG suggests.

Which is to say that even regardless, Mariners fans have cause to be grateful about how things worked out in 2024. It just hits a little different in context of what the Yankees are now going through with Chisholm.