By the time Aroldis Chapman is allowed to speak to teams about money and contract terms, the free agent reliever will be only five days removed from his World Series championship with the Chicago Cubs.
Next Tuesday, baseball’s free agency period begins, and while it could feel like a quick turnaround for Chapman, the same can’t be said for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
Cashman, who dealt Chapman to Chicago at this summer’s trade deadline, was asked about New York’s interest in bringing back the 28-year-old flamethrower on Thursday night at an ALS benefit in Midtown, replying with an emphasis of adding arms this winter.
“We’re going to go through everything,” Cashman told NJ Advance Media. “We’ve had our pro scouting meetings. I would just tell you the areas we’d like to focus on clearly are pitching, bullpen and starting pitching. I think the biggest focus will be pitching, pitching, pitching, and if there are opportunities that come in, the winds of change, if they blow in and it creates an opportunity of interest, then we’ll pursue it.
“I think we have some intentions to try to do some things, but again, we want to do things that are smart and strategic.”
In exchange for Chapman, the Yankees received three minor leaguers from Chicago, including shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres. Since the trade was made in the middle of the season, the Cubs are unable to give Chapman a qualifying offer of $17.2 million, which also means the team who signs him next won’t have to forfeit a draft pick.
Cashman said that he hadn’t talked to Chapman’s representatives yet, but he’d been in contact with “almost every team so far, except the last two standing.”
Despite finishing the postseason with four saves, 21 strikeouts, and a 3.45 ERA in 13 games, Chapman’s impressive performances didn’t come close to Andrew Miller’s. As the second reliever who was flipped by Cashman in late July, Miller finished the postseason with 30 strikeouts and the ALCS MVP award as a member of the Cleveland Indians.
“Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller, they gave everything they had and then some. They went above and beyond on behalf of their teams,” said Cashman. “That’s a big reason why their teams were where they were and that they were all playing in Game 7 (of the World Series). Very special, talented individuals that obviously earned the right to have a lot of accolades thrown their way, to be performing under that type of pressure. That’s why the Chicago Cubs stepped up and that’s why the Cleveland Indians stepped up at the trade deadline when we thought we had to do what we did, to give up the present to have a better future.”
“We have to wait on that from our end and wait for our future to be delivered down the line,” added Cashman. “But they certainly got what they bargained for in the present. Epic world champion effort by the Cubs and the Indians, although I wish we were in there fighting it out ourselves.”
