What the Signing of Chapman Means for Yankees
Aroldis Chapman, probably the hardest-throwing pitcher in the history of baseball, is back in pinstripes. The closer, who started the season in New York under suspension for domestic violence and ended it celebrating the Cubs’ first World Series in 108 years, has agreed to a 5-year, $86 million deal.
The Yankees had a choice to make this offseason, with a crowded group of free-agent relievers. In the days leading up to the signing, word had spread that the Yankees were choosing between Chapman and fellow reliever Kenley Jansen. New York made their choice last night at around midnight ET. Chapman will be able to opt out of the deal after 3 years, and also has a no-trade clause that disallows any trade that would send him to a team in California. If that sounds familiar, it is. Matt Holliday, who signed with the Yankees earlier in the week, has a no-trade clause that doesn’t allow him to be traded to the Oakland Athletics.
Although he does bring a high price tag, it appears that the Yanks got a deal in this one. Before the trade deadline, the Yankees, who were pretty much non-contenders in the AL East, moved Chapman to the Cubs and received shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, reliever Adam Warren, and minor league outfielders Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford. Torres is currently rated the Yankees #2 prospect and the #17 prospect in baseball. He also won the MVP of the Arizona Fall League. Warren posted a 3.26 ERA, and went 4-2 in 29 games last season for New York after the trade. So, right from the get-go it looks like a good trade for the Yanks in order to rebuild. And then all of a sudden, they get Chapman right back, to go along with these guys.
Chapman will join Dellin Betances in the bullpen, which will significantly help. Betances is not a natural closer, and looked sort of awkward in that position after the trades last season. It will help a lot to have Betances for the 7th and 8th innings, and Chapman to come in for the 9th. The rest of the bullpen has solid options of Warren, Tommy Layne, Tyler Clippard, Richard Bleier, and Chasen Shreve. This quickly could become one of the best bullpens in the league, which is good because they’ll probably need to it. The starting rotation is pretty slim, with Tanaka being the only guy that’s considered necessarily “above average”. Michael Pineda has shown flashes of brilliance but is still struggling most of the time. CC Sabathia had a solid year for an aging guy, but still hasn’t really blown anyone away. Luis Severino pitched exceptionally well during his first call-up in the 2015 season, but struggled big-time last year. They don’t have a legitimate 5th guy. That last spot will probably be up for grabs between Warren, Bryan Mitchell, Luis Cessa, and Chad Green. It will help a lot that the 3 who don’t make that 5th spot will be in the bullpen, giving it even more depth.
Overall, while a lot of people may think that this trade is detrimental due to the sheer amount of money that Chapman will receive, it’s not quite that bad. Think about it this way; in 2018, when Bryce Harper is a free agent, the Yankees will no longer be paying Alex Rodriguez or CC Sabathia, Tanaka could possibly opt out of his deal, Matt Holliday will be a free agent, and Brett Gardner or Chase Headley could be traded by then. By that time, Torres, Frazier, and Mateo will all likely be promoted, joining fellow youngsters Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Aaron Judge in the majors. This allows them to spend money on Harper, Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, David Price, Matt Harvey, Andrew McCutchen, Andrew Miller, Zach Britton, and Dallas Keuchel. So if they can hold their spending down in next year’s offseason, we could potentially see Bryce Harper and a guy like David Price or Dallas Keuchel wearing pinstripes in 2018.