Everyone calm down! This is purely a hypothetical that will never happen, but it’s fun to talk about shit. Thanks. Let’s have some fun.

Sox on 35th wrote a much more profound article on Thursday, discussing what it would take for the White Sox to trade for Marlins’ second baseman Jazz Chisholm. Make sure to check that out. It would be a steep price, as the White Sox would have to trade their best prospects and probably two more decent players to even entertain a chance to acquire Chisholm. That is if the Marlins even make Chisholm available.

Anyway, my co-host on the Pinwheels and Ivy Podcast, @SouthsideZo threw out this question on Twitter, White Sox fans, who would you rather have Eloy Jimenez or Jazz Chisholm?

Not saying it would be enough but for funsies let’s say it is. You really don’t need to comment on why it isn’t. Just pick one.

Eloy for Jazz…..what say you?

— Matt Zawaski aka (@SouthsideZo) June 16, 2022

Again, this would never actually be a real trade. The Marlins would never trade Chisholm straight up for Eloy Jimenez. However, from an outside perspective, these results kind of shocked me.

More than 300 votes and nearly 2/3 of fans would do this trade in a heartbeat.

Not to say I disagree with the results because Chisholm is a 24-year-old, left-handed hitter that would do more than just fill the giant hole at second base that the White Sox have had. But man, White Sox fans have really soured on Eloy and again I can’t really blame them either.

Eloy vs. Jazz Stats

Eloy Jimenez has been up since 2019, while Jazz Chisholm made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2020. Although Chisholm didn’t play much in the shortened 2020 season, he’s only played in 47 fewer games than Jimenez, who has missed huge chunks of time because of various injuries.

Career Slash Line
Eloy Jimenez: .268/.314./.499 (.813 OPS)
Jazz Chisholm: .240/.298/.446 (.743 OPS)

2022 Stats
Eloy Jimenez: .222/.256/.333 (.590 OPS)
Jazz Chisholm: .246/.301/.535 (.836 OPS)

Obviously Eloy’s numbers are far worse, as he struggled early in 2022 and then got injured after playing in only 11 games. However, when you look back at his 2021 numbers, also an injury-riddled season, Eloy wasn’t exactly smashing the ball either, slashing .249/.303/.437, in 55 games last year.

You also have to factor in that Jimenez is a liability in the field. I’m not going to say he’s the worst outfielder in the game and honestly he’s better than what it may seem, but he’s a liability to himself. He’s already gotten injured twice making dumb decisions in the outfield and he can also be harmful to Luis Robert, or anyone else is playing in center field.

Meanwhile, Chisholm is one of the best defensive second baseman currently in the National League and certainly top-10 in all of MLB.

Eloy vs. Jazz Contract

Back in 2019, Jimenez signed a six-year, $43 million contract that also includes two club options worth an additional $35 million. Meanwhile, Chisholm is still a pre-arbitration player and won’t be a free agent until the 2026-27 offseason. So, that’s 4.5 more years of team control.

So yeah, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that most White Sox fans would immediately do this trade. Again, this isn’t a real-life scenario, as the White Sox would need to add more in a proposal for Chisholm.

But I think this conversation, or at least the thought of a trade, does spark a good question for the future of the White Sox. If they fall short again this year, how comfortable would you be as a Sox fan to trade Eloy to improve other areas of the roster?