New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman is quite used to being a coveted asset. The Chicago Cubs gave up top prospect Gleyber Torres to acquire Chapman for their World Series run in 2016, and then the Yankees shelled out $86 million to bring Chapman back to New York that winter.
So it should not be surprising that — as ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan notes — teams around the league are hoping that Chapman opts out of his final two years in New York:
The belief around baseball is that, as Ken Rosenthal reported a month ago, Chapman is as good as a free agent. Which makes complete sense. Even with slightly diminished velocity, Chapman, 32 in February, is owed just $30 million over the final two years of his deal. And if Craig Kimbrel can misread the market, sit out for a couple months and still guarantee himself $43 million, then Chapman, coming off another dominant season closing for the Yankees, can beat $30 million easy.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported in July that Chapman was “one million percent” going to opt out at season's end, but Chapman told reporters — including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com — that the report had no validity:
“The report is completely false,” Chapman said through an interpreter. “I haven't even spoken to my agent about it. Like I said before, we have a big task in front of us, which is to win the division and win the World Series. That's the main focus for me right now. Contract stuff hasn't even crossed my mind at all.”
Chapman has consistently been one of the most dominant closers in the game, ranking third among all relievers in fWAR in 2019 and first among all relievers between 2016 and 2019.
Granted, Chapman still has a $15 million AAV over the course of the next two years, but he may choose to pursue more guaranteed money.
Follow Us
Subscribe