Jazz Chisholm’s path to free agency now comes with a question hanging over it: after an uneven 2026 with the Yankees, could the Los Angeles Angels make a run at him in 2027?
That’s the kind of fit that makes sense on paper, especially for a team still searching for answers at second base. Chisholm’s season in New York had its peaks and valleys, and by the time October arrived, the ride had grown even bumpier.
He got off to a strong start after the Yankees landed him from the Miami Marlins at the 2024 MLB trade deadline. The move looked like a perfect match right away. Chisholm hit .273 over his final 46 games in pinstripes, added 11 home runs and 18 stolen bases, and helped push the Yankees into the World Series, where they lost in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
If that was the setup, 2025 was the real payoff. Chisholm put together a 4.1-bWAR season, posting career highs with 31 homers, 80 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.
Then came 2026.
He still ran wild, setting a career high with 41 stolen bases, but the rest of the line dipped hard. Chisholm finished with a career-worst .231 average and a .711 OPS.
The Yankees still reached the postseason as the American League’s top wild-card seed, and Chisholm did provide a burst in the opening round. In the one game he played during the Wild Card Series sweep of the Boston Red Sox, he went 2-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
The AL Divisional Series against the Tampa Bay Rays told a different story. Chisholm started the first two games and went 0-for-8 with one walk.
With New York down 2-0 in the series and needing three straight wins, manager Aaron Boone turned to Anthony Volpe for Game 3. The Yankees lost that game 4-3 and were swept out of the playoffs.
Chisholm did appear as a pinch hitter in Game 3 and went 0-for-2. He also heard boos from Yankees fans after popping 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?”
With free agency approaching, Chisholm’s future in New York is still unsettled. He grew up a Yankees fan in the Bahamas and has said he wouldn’t mind staying.
“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.”
But there was also clear frustration over Boone’s decision to bench him for Game 3, especially since Chisholm said he wasn’t told ahead of time.
“Yeah,” Chisholm said, “I always prefer a conversation so I would at least know what I’m walking into.”
That uncertainty is what makes the Angels worth watching here. Los Angeles cycled through Oswaldo Peraza, Adam Frazier and Christian Moore at second base this season and didn’t get much back.
Peraza played 115 games and led that group with seven home runs and 24 RBIs, though he struggled for most of the second half. Frazier, who turns 35 in December, hit .240, the best average among the three.
Moore, still viewed as a solid prospect, batted just .187 in 134 at-bats.
That production shortage is why Brian Burrows of Halo Hangout pushed for the Angels to go after 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."
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