Cubs get closer Aroldis Chapman in trade with Yankees

NY sported one of baseball’s best reliever trios in Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Chapman, but the Yankees opted to retain Miller due to his longer contract.

“This is a game-changer”. Aroldis Chapman out of the pen? Targets among starting pitchers include Chris Archer of the Tampa Bay Rays, who is scheduled to start against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, and Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.

For two months of Chapman, the Cubs traded two of their best prospects.

The New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported the Yankees would send reliever Adam Warren, top shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres and two others to the Cubs. Cincinnati had almost made a deal to send Chapman to the Dodgers, but the deal fell through when news of Chapman’s domestic violence incident against his girlfriend in Miami broke wide open. “I don’t have any information but my agent did say that they’re talking to him”. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing and NY owner Hal Steinbrenner had not made any final decision. He did well in NY and I wish him well. Miller, signed through 2018, also could be traded.

Milwaukee’s Will Smith could be a possibility, though he isn’t arbitration eligible until next season, and the Marlins don’t have many prospects to move. In 31.1 innings pitched, he has given up 20 hits, 44 strikeouts, eight walks, which equates to 20 saves. He threw a 105.1 miles per hour fastball to Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy last Monday night, matching the fastest since Major League Baseball began tracking speeds in 2008.

“The Cubs have been playing really good baseball”, Chapman said through a translator before he left Houston to travel to Chicago. “I think they’re probably one of the better teams in both leagues right now”. Chapman’s contract is up at the end of the 2016 season, so he is technically just a rental at the moment.

A column by Steve Rosenbloom of RedEye.com suggests that Cubs fans might not like the move because Chapman served a 30-game domestic-violence suspension this season. He missed the season’s first 30 games after he was the first player to be suspended by Major League Baseball for the league’s Joint Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Assault policy. Chapman is by far the hardest thrower in the game and he instantly increases the Cubs chances of making – and winning – the World Series. “I feel like part of the family here”. The new additions will likely cause some changes in the Cubs’ bullpen soon enough. The New York Yankees closer is reportedly on his way back to the National League.

In Warren, the Yankees are retaining a player who was traded to the Cubs during the offseason in exchange for Starlin Castro.