Report: New York Yankees may look to re-sign Aroldis Chapman in free agency

Report: New York Yankees may look to re-sign Aroldis Chapman in free agency
09/26/2016 3:35 PM ET
By A.J. Herrmann
[web.yesnetwork.com]

Yankees will reportedly pursue lefty closer Aroldis Chapman in free agency this offseason.(AP)
Aroldis Chapman back in pinstripes? It could happen.
According to a report from Jon Heyman, the Yankees are likely to make a run at re-signing the dominant free agent closer this offseason, after trading him to the Cubs at this year's deadline for RHP Adam Warren, INF Gleyber Torres and OFs Billy McKinney and Rashad Crawford.

Chapman is due to become a free agent at the end of the 2016 season, after earning $11.325 million this year.

The lefty reliever joined the Yankees back on December 28 when New York acquired him from Cincinnati in exchange for four prospects: RHPs Caleb Cotham and Rookie Davis, as well as INFs Eric Jagielo and Tony Renda. He agreed on a a one-year, arbitration-avoiding deal prior to the start of the season after spending each of his first six years in MLB with the Reds, four of which resulted in All-Star nominations for the Cuban-born pitcher.

After serving a 30-game suspension at the start of the year, Chapman took over Yankees closing duties from May 9 to July 23, and went 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA while converting 20 saves in 21 opportunities.

What Chapman boasts that no other pitcher in history can is a near-unhittable 105 mph fastball that has helped him average 15.2 strikeouts-per-nine over his MLB career. While with the Yankees, Chapman rang up 44 strikeouts and walked just eight batters over 31 1/3 innings, helping to anchor the back end of a dominant bullpen trio with Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller.

Before being dealt, Chapman told NJ.com that he felt "very comfortable and happy" in New York City, and that if the opportunity arose to eventually return to The Bronx, he "would love to keep being a part of" the Yankees organization.

Since the August 1 trade deadline, both Chapman (Cubs) and Miller (Indians) have continued to dominate for their respective teams, while Betances has encountered some uncharacteristic struggles on the mound since taking over the closing role for the Yankees.

Part of those struggles can likely be attributed to the workload Betances has had to shoulder after the departures of his former bullpen mates. This season, only Cleveland's Bryan Shaw has made more appearances (73) among A.L. relievers than Betances, who has toed the rubber 71 times prior to Monday's game.

Re-acquiring Chapman could be just what the Yankees bullpen needs to return to its dominant first-half form, when each member of the Three-Headed Monster was taking care of business in dominant fashion late in games.

Another interesting note from Heyman's original report includes a potential new landing spot for former Yankees veteran Carlos Beltran. Heyman reports that the rival Red Sox might be a team interested in acquiring Beltran, a free agent after this season, to replace the vacancy at designated hitter left by the nearly retired slugger David Ortiz.

Beltran has continued to produce in his 19th Major League season, owning a .297 batting average to complement 28 homers and 92 RBI during his time with both the Yankees and Rangers, who traded for him at the deadline. Beltran hasn't had a 30-100 season since 2007, but the transition to full-time DH has done wonders for his consistency.

The A.L. East has been arguably baseball's best division in 2016, and it could stand to regain two more all-time players in a year's time should Chapman and Beltran both return.