It’s hard to digest that Aroldis Chapman was a member of the Yankees just five months ago. He was shipped to Chicago when the team decided they were going to be sellers during the 2016 season, and elected to trade both Chapman and Andrew Miller, who ended up squaring off in the World Series.
But New York wants their flamethrower back to anchor their bullpen, badly, judging by the amount of money they just offered to bring him back to the Bronx.
BREAKING: Chapman to #Yankees, five years, $86M.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 8, 2016
Source: Chapman deal includes three-year opt-out, full no-trade for first three years, limited no-trade for final two.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 8, 2016
Chapman returns to be the team’s closer after Cubs manager Joe Maddon nearly pitched his arm off in the World Series. The 28-year-old hurler recorded 58 innings pitched, with a 1.55 ERA during that time period.
You have to wonder if the amount that Chapman pitched last season will take a toll on him, given his injury history. Furthermore, he’s a one-inning closer pretty much, so the Yankees still need a solid setup man, which will likely be Dellin Betances.
It seems like the Yankees overpaid to get their guy back, but they can afford to. The Giants, on the other hand, have to be feeling like they got good value out of the $62 million deal they inked Mark Melancon to.
Unlike the Nationals, though, the Yankees actually have a closer. But they had to offer the largest free-agent contract for a reliever in MLB history to do so.
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