Agustin

Ramirez

The 22-year-old backstop was considered one of the top prospects in the Yankees’ organization, and for very good reason. He has crushed minor league pitching this season to the tune of a .269/.358/.505 slash line with 20 long balls, 69 RBI and 18 stolen bases in 87 games between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It’s unclear if the Marlins plan to bump him up to the big leagues right away to see what he can do, or if he’ll start out his Marlins’ career at Triple-A Jacksonville. Once he does arrive, his skillset makes him a very intriguing target in deeper mixed leagues and two-catcher formats.

This certainly qualifies as a blockbuster as Chisholm, who won’t reach free agency until after the 2026 campaign, is heading to New York in exchange for three players, including top prospect Agustin Ramirez, who has posted an .862 OPS with 20 homers and 18 steals this season between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The electrifying 26-year-old outfielder, who figures to move back to the infielder for New York, will inject some much-needed life as a top-of-the-order spark plug for a lifeless Yankees’ lineup. It’s a fascinating trade from a variety of standpoints, but it’s unquestionably a positive development for Chisholm’s immediate and long-term fantasy outlook that he’s headed to hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium to join a star-studded supporting cast.

The RailRiders had an opening for Ramirez with Luis Torrens gone to the Mets and Ben Rice quickly getting promoted to the majors. Ramirez, who had a three-homer game earlier this month, was batting .290/.372/.570 for Somerset. He’ll surely be asked about in trade talks as the Yankees attempt to upgrade next month, but he won’t be easy to pry away, even with Austin Wells in front of him.

Ramirez went 3-for-5 with six RBI on Friday evening as he’s up to 15 homers this season across just 49 games. The 22-year-old backstop has put together an extremely impressive breakthrough this year in the upper minors, batting .273/.372/.536 with 15 homers and 12 steals already. The biggest question for New York is how everything shakes out long-term with fellow top catching Ben Rice already at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Ramirez will open the year back in the upper minors after being added to New York’s 40-man roster last November.

The 22-year-old backstop impressed with the bat across three minor league levels in 2023 — slashing .271/.364/.455 with 18 homers, 69 RBI and 12 stolen bases over 492 plate appearances between Single-A Tampa, High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset. The Yankees saw enough that they needed to protect him from December’s Rule 5 draft. Look for him to open the 2024 season back at Double-A Somerset.