The New York Yankees have acquired Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds.
YES Network’s Jack Curry initially reported that the trade was nearly done, with Fox Sports’s Ken Rosenthal confirming it. According to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch, the Yankees parted with pitching prospect Rookie Davis, 28-year-old Caleb Cotham, and infielders Eric Jagielo and Tony Renda. None of the players are highly coveted prospects.
From a pure baseball standpoint, the Yankees now have a ridiculous bullpen, and they can string Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Andrew Miller together to shorten games. There has been talk that the Yankees could look to trade Miller this winter, but the New York Post’s Joel Sherman understands that the Yankees intend to keep the trio and form a dominant bullpen.
Of course, it’s impossible to look at this deal from a pure baseball standpoint. Chapman is currently facing domestic violence allegations that led to an earlier trade with the Dodgers falling apart, and scared other teams away as well. It’s almost certainly the reason the Yankees were able to land Chapman without dealing a top prospect. It is possible that he will face a lengthy suspension, and in fact, according to Sherman, the Yankees reportedly expect that to happen. As Rotoworld’s Matthew Pouliot noted, a 50 game suspension would actually give the Yankees another full year of Chapman’s services before he hits free agency.
