Aroldis Chapman returns to the Yankees after signing the largest reliever contract in MLB history
Late Wednesday night, the New York Yankees agreed to sign Aroldis Chapman to a five-year, $86 million contract. The move shattered the previous deal for a closer, which took place just two days before when the San Francisco Giants agreed to a four-year, $62 million contract with Mark Melancon.
Throughout the Winter Meetings, the Yankees were rumored to be one of the favorites to land Chapman. In the case of the Yankees, it was actually a “re-land.” They traded for Chapman during last year’s Winter Meetings, before trading him to the Chicago Cubs during the season.
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This move could not have been more of a win-win for everyone involved. The Yankees ultimately ended up leasing Chapman to the Cubs, who went on to win the World Series. In return, the Yankees received their top prospect, SS Gleyber Torres, who is ranked 24th in baseball according to MLB Pipeline. Now the Yankees secured their closer spot for the next five years and Chapman got paid handsomely.
Chapman is the hardest thrower in the game, consistently throwing 100+ MPH. In 2016 Chapman had 36 saves (20 with the Yankees and 16 with the Cubs), a 1.55 ERA, 0.86 WHIP and a ridiculous 13.9 K/9. And this being with his 30-game suspension at the start of last year’s season because of a domestic violence incident.
Chapman is viewed as one of the top closers in both the big leagues and fantasy. He may not end up with the most saves of any closer next year (he finished tied for 11th in the league in 2016), but he should finish in the top five in saves, ERA, WHIP and K/9 among closers. In a 5×5 standard scoring league, Chapman is definitely someone to reach for in next year’s drafts.
The Yankees offered Chapman a five-year contract with a no-trade clause for the first three years of the deal. While he may not be as dominating toward the back end of the contract, Chapman is only 28 years old and has never been injured or shown signs of losing his velocity in any way.
New York is not necessarily rebuilding, the way other teams typically do, but they are re-tooling. They have one of the best farm systems in the game, and this move improves their bullpen as well as helps shorten the game for an aging starting rotation.
The Yankees clearly made this move with the hope that over the next two to three years, they will be set up with one of the best bullpens in baseball just as their top prospects are ready to be called up. The fact that the deal is worth $86 million should also not be of much concern because the Yankees can afford to pay out the rest of the contract on the back end of the deal.
A move such as this appeared inevitable for the Yankees, especially after the Boston Red Sox traded for SP Chris Sale the day before. The Yankees were not willing to part with any of their top prospects, namely Torres or anyone else, in order to bring in a high-quality player the likes of Sale. This move appears to be a good one for both the team and fantasy owners alike.
A.J. Stone is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from A.J., check out his archive and follow him on Twitter @ajstone18.
