Central Notes: Gomez, Chapman, Choate, Indians

It was on this day in 1932 that the Reds and Dodgers swung a very notable trade.  Clyde Sukeforth, Tony Cuccinello and Joe Stripp went to Brooklyn while Cincinnati acquired Babe Herman, Wally Gilbert and a then-23-year-old catcher named Ernie Lombardi.  Needless to say, this deal ended up being a big win for the Reds — Lombardi spent the bulk (10 years) of his Hall of Fame career in Cincinnati and hit .311/.359/.469 and 120 homers with the club.  Lombardi won two batting titles during his career, and was the last catcher to lead the NL in average until Buster Posey last season.

Here are some items from around both the NL and AL Central…

• Carlos Gomez's three-year, $24MM extension with the Brewers "isn't likely to be a stinker" for the club, Fangraphs' Eno Sarris writes, and it could be a bargain if Gomez's power and ability to hit right-handed pitching continue to develop.
• An opposing NL scout tells FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal that the Reds "are crazy" if they use Aroldis Chapman as a starter.  "It’s Joba Chamberlain all over again.  His velocity dropped off in the second inning. He couldn’t get his off-speed stuff over the plate consistently. No question in my mind, he’s the closer," the scout said.  Meanwhile, Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News talked to several other scouts about Chapman and they were "nearly unanimous" that he is a better fit as a closer.  Keep following @CloserNews on Twitter for all the latest updates on the Reds and other ninth-inning situations from around baseball.
• Randy Choate talks about his career and his development into a left-handed relief specialist with Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  Choate signed a three-year, $7.5MM deal with the Cardinals in December.
• Ryan Raburn may have the edge on winning a bench job with the Indians at the expense of Ezequiel Carrera, MLB.com's Jordan Bastian opines.  Bastian thinks the Tribe could try to deal Carrera in such a scenario since he is out of options and would probably be claimed off waivers by another team.  Here is the full list of out of options players who could be facing a roster crunch by the end of Spring Training.
• Earlier today on MLBTR, we heard about the Tigers weighing their trade options, while Ben Nicholson-Smith covered the Tigers' winter moves as part of our Offseason In Review series.