December 8, 2016

Back to the Future

The Yankees land Aroldis Chapman:

Aroldis Chapman and his triple-digit fastball are heading back to the Bronx, as the left-handed closer has agreed to a five-year, $86 million contract with the Yankees on Wednesday night, a source told MLB.com.

The agreement sets a Major League record for the largest contract ever handed to a relief pitcher. The Yankees have not officially announced the signing, as Chapman must still pass a physical to finalize the deal.

“The attraction of him is that we know he can pitch in New York and he doesn’t have a Draft pick attached,” Cashman said prior to the agreement. “So then it just comes down to money and term.”

Chapman can opt-out after three years, and gets a no-trade clause for those three seasons. I’m interested to see if the contract is back-loaded, to see what the Yankees true cost is if Chapman opts out. Even at $86 million, it looks like a good deal. Chapman is a 2.5 WAR a year pitcher, and the Yankees appear to be paying him for 10.5 WAR over five seasons. On top of that, he also secured them a number of prospects from the Cubs. The Yankees investment in a socially damaged Chapman last season seems to have paid off well for the club.

1 thought on “Back to the Future

  1. Ptodd

    Seems a luxury for a team that passed on 3 yrs of Sale Because they arent ready to add the final pieces . Counting on Chapman to maintain that velocity for 5 years seems optimistic and we know that when his velocity drops down to double digits he is hittable. I also wonder about the effect of the post season workload, heblooked gassed at the end

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