At his best, Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a player who still retains several skills to impact the game, but the big problem throughout his career has been his constant performance decline.

Leaving his controversies with the New York Yankees, Chisholm Jr. has reached free agency this year after a major decline compared to his 2025 season, when he recorded 4.3 fWAR, the highest figure of his career. The critical point that generated the most doubt for the Yankees was his decline in offensive production.

Jazz was basically the same hitter, prone to recording high rates of missed swings and strikeouts, capable of drawing walks consistently during his best stretches, with elite bat speed and a high rate of hard-hit balls. He also made greater use of his speed and set a personal record with 41 stolen bases, finishing in 10th place in the league with +5 Baserunning Runs. In addition, he was the second-most efficient baserunner in baseball at stealing third base this year.

However, the regression in his power gave his campaign a different turn. With 532 plate appearances, just one more than in 2025, Chisholm Jr. went from hitting 31 home runs and driving in 80 runs to recording 19 home runs and 55 RBIs, with the worst OPS (.589) and wRC+ (57) of his career with runners in scoring position in a single season. Overall, his xwOBA plummeted from .345 last year to .294, while his wRC+ fell from 125 to 98.

Chisholm Jr. vs. Lowe… Who Should Be Toronto’s Main Target?

Even in what was a year of regression in terms of production and impact compared to the expectations he left in 2025, Jazz remains an interesting player. He fell from the 85th percentile to the 22nd in Batting, but finished in the elite, at the 96th percentile in Base Running and the 86th in Fielding. So his numbers remain competitive, even though overall they fell short of Lowe’s great impact in 2026.

That said, if I had to choose the better version between Chisholm Jr. and Lowe as an option for the Jays, I would lean a little toward the former Yankee for a few obvious reasons. First of all, of course, he would become a division rival of the Yankees!

In addition, he would become an eye-catching piece to strengthen their archrivals, who eliminated them in the 2025 postseason. Can you imagine Jazz stepping up to the plate in the Bronx wearing the Blue Jays uniform? That would be fun to watch!

Look, both are power-hitting left-handed batters and, as I have written before, I also love Lowe, who is well known to the Yankees; he spent his first eight Major League seasons playing for the Tampa Bay Rays. But if Jazz bounces back and focuses more on how to make the most of his tools, he could be a more valuable player to contribute to Toronto’s lineup.

Lowe leads all Major League second basemen with 87 home runs over the last three seasons and is coming off his best offensive year, with personal records of 35 home runs and 4.9 fWAR. However, Jazz has also shown power, is a better baserunner and leads over that same period with 112 stolen bases.

In 2026, the Jays were the team that scored the fewest runs in all of Major League Baseball, with 648, and the fourth team with the fewest stolen bases, with 75. Jazz alone accounted for 54.6% of that figure with his 41 stolen bases and, if he manages to recover his power, I would not rule out that he could record his second 30-30 season.

Chisholm Jr. is also a more complete fielder at second base, with better range and a much more consistent track record than Lowe, who would still have to prove that his defensive improvements at second base can be repeated in 2027.