Revisiting the Jazz Chisholm/Zac Gallen Trade

In honor of the Marlins vs Diamondbacks series in Arizona this week, I will be revisiting a league-altering trade that the Marlins made in July of 2019.

In 2019, the Marlins were in a complete rebuild state, as the squad lost 105 games in ‘19. During the deadline of that miserable season, The Marlins dealt youngster Zac Gallen to the D-Backs in exchange for 59th-ranked middle infield prospect Jazz Chisholm.

Many Marlins fans were initially upset about this trade even though Jazz was the #3 prospect in the D-Backs system, and Gallen was just the 19th-ranked prospect in Miami’s system. Despite the Pipeline rankings, Marlins fans were upset about trading the young righty, mainly because Jazz struggled at the plate in 2019. In 112 games (AA), Jazz hit a disappointing .220 that season. Minor league stats don’t always tell the whole story, but Marlins fans were quick to jump to conclusions after this trade.

Graphic by Miami Marlins/Twitter

The Marlins took a chance on Zac Gallen in June of 2019, as they called him up at age 23 with virtually nothing to lose. Marlins fans saw Gallen's potential as he dominated Triple-A in 2019 before getting called up. In the seven starts, he made with Miami before getting traded, Gallen had a 2.72 ERA.

I think the main reason that the Marlins’ FO made this trade is because they wanted to even out their hitting and pitching prospects. At the time, the Fish were loaded on pitching prospects with Sixto Sanchez, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera, and Braxton Garrett. Even Nick Neidert had a high ranking in the 2019 system.

Photo by Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Now it’s time to assess the main question, who won this trade? The simple answer would be that the Diamondbacks won this trade because Gallen is now the better player. However, you have to consider that Gallen is more than two years older than Chisholm. Zac Gallen looks like one of the best pitchers in the game, while Jazz has the potential to be a superstar but needs to work on some specific parts of his game, like striking out too much. If Jazz starts to put the ball in play more often and reduce his strikeouts, he will be one of the most complete players in all of baseball.

With this in mind, I think the Diamondbacks won the trade now, but it is too early to tell who won the deal long-term because Jazz is over two years younger than Gallen. It could be pretty even because the Marlins need hitters more than pitchers, and the D-Backs need pitchers more than hitters.

Photo by Michael Laughlin/Associated Press

In conclusion, this trade will be discussed for many years to come, as it is one of the more even trades the Marlins have made in the past decade.