The Cincinnati Reds are looking to trade Aroldis Chapman, and team GM Dick Williams believes there will be plenty of interest in the closer.
Williams told MLB.com Saturday that he wasn’t worried about the Boston Red Sox acquiring Craig Kimbrel in a trade with the San Diego Padres, taking the AL East team out of the closer market.
“We didn’t feel like we missed out on a deal with them,” Williams told MLB.com regarding the Red Sox. “There will be other teams that are interested in Chapman.
“I don’t control who is out there or who will be interested. We feel that there are other offers. We feel that he’s the best closer out there, so [we] hope good stuff can happen.”
Chapman is entering his final season under team control and will be eligible for arbitration. After next year he’ll be a free agent, which means any team trying to deal for him would risk giving up assets for just one year of the closer. That limits the market for Chapman, but when it comes to a player as talented as he is, teams will be interested.
Chapman recorded 33 saves with a 1.63 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 66.1 innings last season. He has 546 strikeouts in his career.
In addition to Chapman, the Reds are said to be shopping Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce, and they also reportedly are open to trading Todd Frazier and Joey Votto as part of their massive rebuild.
