Diamondbacks Make an Offer for Aroldis Chapman
With the 2015 MLB Trade Deadline coming up quick, 1:00 p.m. MST on Friday, July 31, the Diamondbacks have finally solidified themselves as a potential front-runner to land Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds.
News broke on Thursday night that the Diamondbacks would like to trade for Chapman and keep him past the end of next season.
Sources: #DBacks want to land Chapman with idea of extending him past 2016. New TV deal starts next season. Team again poised to spend big.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 31, 2015
AZCentral.com reported that…
"Multiple reports said the Diamondbacks had made an offer and were waiting for a response from the Reds. A team source, however, made the talks sound less advanced, saying the sides were still in the “tire-kicking” stage, not to the point of exchanging proposals… Rival executives say he will not come cheap. An official with another club called the Reds’ asking price for Chapman “high”; a second official called it “ridiculous.”"
It is encouraging at least that the Diamondbacks will be willing to spend big, especially after the new TV deal money kicks in. Although Chapman’s asking price is high, it would be very worth it to lock down a closer for the long run… IF and only IF they can extend him past 2016.
This club is not in a win-now situation this year or next year. They should definitely not trade the future away for a closer for a season and a half. If they are able to lock him up long-term then yes, please pull the trigger.
The 27-year-old has a career ERA of 2.22 and has 134 saves in three and a half years as the closer for the Reds. He also has an astonishing 15.4 K/9 ratio for his entire career, which includes 296.1 innings pitched over 303 appearances.
We shall see how it all shakes out over the next 15 hours or so until the trade deadline. Be sure to bookmark our home page to stay in tune with everything you will need to know regarding the Chapman-Diamondbacks deal and anything else that goes down on Friday.