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Reds find a willing trade partner for Aroldis Chapman
Tuesday’s Say Hey, Baseball includes Broadway-bound Aroldis Chapman, the newest Cuban pitching prospect and women in baseball.
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The Yankees have granted the Reds’ wish and traded for left-handed closer Aroldis Chapman. The flame-throwing lefty closer is bound for the Bronx in a deal that sends four minor leaguers back to Cincinnati. The Yankees bullpen is now legitimately scary, with Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller pitching in relief alongside Chapman. That is a lot of strikeouts in one place, and rest of the AL East is probably not looking forward to facing that in the back end of every game. To the Reds, the Yankees are sending Eric Jagielo, Caleb Cotham, Tony Renda and the appropriately named Rookie Davis. Do these four players equal the two the Dodgers were ready to send to Cinci a few weeks ago? We’ll probably never know, since the trade fell apart before names could be named.
Of course, that deal with the Dodgers fell apart because of reports that Chapman had been involved in a domestic violence incident. Chapman wasn’t arrested or charged with any crimes, but he reportedly choked his girlfriend and admitted to firing eight gunshots in his garage in Florida. He’s being investigated by Major League Baseball and will most likely face a suspension under MLB’s very new domestic violence policy, which was announced in August. The policy leaves the punishment up to the Commissioner, so the suspension could be anything from one to one million games.
A likely suspension didn’t stop the Yankees from trading for him, though Chapman’s decreased post-incident trade value probably didn’t hurt, either. In fact, if Chapman serves a suspension, the Yankees could potentially keep him under control even longer. Chapman is eligible for free agency after the 2016 season, but since players don’t accrue service time while they’re suspended, he might have to remain a Yankee in 2017. I believe Mike Bates said it best.
- Oakland officially announced the signing of Henderson “The Entertainer” Alvarez, which should make the first pitch of every fifth Athletics game a lot more interesting.
- Next year’s batch of free agent centerfielders look so bad that the Giants may not want to wait to sign someone.
- All that minor league talent isn’t going to last forever for the Red Sox, and a bridge year might be in their future if forever comes quickly.
- Listening to offers on Nick Castellanos, the Tigers 23-year-old third baseman, is a smart thing for them to do, but not actually trading him is also pretty wise choice. Thank goodness they’re not mutually exclusive!
- Jeff Samardzija contributed something of value to the White Sox in 2015. No, seriously!
- He wowed 350 (?!) scouts at an exhibition back in October, and now Cuban pitching prospect Yasiel Sierra has been declared a free agent.
- Because Michael Taylor and Matt den Dekker are somehow not enough for the Nationals in center field, they’re looking to add another outfielder. But how they intend to do that is still unclear.
- From the press box to the batter’s box, it was a big year for women in all levels of baseball.
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