1:11pm: The Red Sox are indeed doing background work on Chapman, tweets Rosenthal, although that’s more a sign of genuine interest than proximity to a trade’s completion.
12:17pm: The Red Sox are being aggressive on many fronts, one of which is believed to be Chapman, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.
11:13am: Aroldis Chapman has seen his name circulate in trade rumors for the past year and is widely known to be on the block once again, and Peter Gammons of MLB Network and GammonsDaily.com now reports that four people have insisted to him this morning that Chapman will be traded by the end of the coming weekend (Twitter link).
Chapman most prominently drew interest from the Astros, Yankees and Diamondbacks prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, and he’s been speculatively connected to the Yankees, Red Sox and others this past week over the course of the GM Meetings. The Nationals and Tigers are also known to be seeking high-end bullpen help, and the Blue Jays have shown interest in the past as well. Gammons doesn’t specify which clubs are in the mix for Chapman at this time, but Cincinnati president of baseball ops Walt Jocketty more or less confirmed this week that he’s more or less open for business and will listen to talks on virtually any player on his club.
Chapman, with one year of club control remaining, is a natural trade chip for the rebuilding Reds. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected the left-hander to earn a steep $12.9MM in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and while that’s top-of-the-market value for a relief arm, Chapman has undoubtedly proven himself worthy of that much, if not more. The 27-year-old struck out more than 15 hitters per nine innings for the fourth consecutive season in 2015 while averaging 99.5 mph on his fastball. Over the course of the four seasons in question, Chapman has a 1.90 ERA and has saved 33 or more games per season.
Smart move to trade Chapman before the 2016 season starts since he will be one of the few relievers that will receive a QO. That ups his trade value significantly even though he only has one year of team control remaining.
I hope Red Sox get him.I just don’t know what Reds need.
They need prospects and young talent of any kind. I would start with a Manuel Margot, Henry Owens, and Devin Marrero offer and go from there.
Awful offer.Too much.He is a free agent after 2016.So I would give up Margot and Marrero and Johnson or Owens if they can extend him
Any team acquiring Chapman will recoup a 1st round pick by offering him a QO so you need to factor in the added value of the comp pick into the trade.
That is a very good point. I think two good hitting prospects is what they should ask for from Boston. Boston would get a comp pick back at the very least.
Margot and someone?
They’ll recoup a sandwich pick. The team signing him will lose a first round pick or second if it’s protected.
The Sox would be acquiring him to extend him, not to see him leave.
in that case I would give them that
Seems fair but what do we know? We all are arm chair gms lol.
Sox need SP first
There is starters in the market. No ace sounds like they are available via trade. The only guys that sound available are number 2 and 3 type of starters in Carrasco and such.
Sox need Two quality Starters , not Maybe Starters. That is going to Money or be creative with A’s about Grey, Three or four Guys should do it.
The bullpen was a bigger issue this past season than the rotation was.
Excessive.
The Reds’ clear emphasis is on hitting prospects, especially outfielders. They already have quite a stockpile of young pitching. The Red Sox have plenty of appealing chips.
Yeah Sox can give them a lot of good prospects.They just need to find the right mix
Rafael Devers, OF Manuel Margot, and (Cincinnati native) Andrew Benintendi all seem like good fits for the Reds. I’m not convinced Deven Marrero is any improvement over Eugenio Suarez. I would welcome Mookie Betts or even Brock Holt, if they’re made available.
Jackie Bradley has recently been listed as a likely trade chip, although he seems like an unlikely fit for the Reds – they already have a light hitting slick fielding CF in Billy Hamilton.
Despite a lack of need for additional starting prospects, you can never have too much pitching. If the Reds can get Henry Owens? Cool.
Benintendi is off limits for sure I think.Him and Moncada.Everyone else is fair game.Betts and Xander not of course given that they play crucial positions
Devers or Benintendi is too much to give up but Margot and guys like Owens and Chavis are all fair game. Margot would be a perfect fit for the Reds.
They are too much to give up but if I was Jocketty I would try and get one of them first. Preferably Devers if they are going to trade Frazier.
Devers is too far from the majors to be relevant to Frazier’s situation, in my opinion. He probably won’t reach the majors until Frazier becomes a free agent. I see Devers as a target to increase the team’s pool of talent, rather than to address any current need.
But yeah, the Red Sox are unlikely to give him up. It could serve to blow other Chapman offers out of the water, though.
Devers is amazing.Pure power
I’m not disputing that Devers is amazing 🙂
I’m just saying that, as a soon-to-be-20-year-old who spent 2015 in low A ball, he’s heading to Advanced A Ball in 2016. With a good season maybe he ends the season in AA, and starts 2017 in AAA. He’s a very promising prospect, but he’s also at least a couple of years away from the majors, especially for a team unwilling to rush him.
A couple of years (through 2017) is also exactly how long the Reds can retain Frazier, without signing him to an extension.
Frazier will be long gone by that time.
Margot is already a better piece than what other teams are willing to give up for a reliever on a one year deal. Add in a prospect like Chavis who actually displayed more power than Devers over a full season. That could work.
The Reds aren’t going to get Devers for one year of Chapman.
Hitting hitting hitting. If I were the Reds I would push for Margot + Benintendi, but that is likely too much.
you think buddy?
I know so. Koji leaves after next year. Chapman is their best option as a closer going forward.
I just doubt they can extend him that’ all
Are we talking about the Boston Red Sox here? Lol of course they can extend him.
They can but maybe he Chapman won’t agree
Offer him the highest contract by a closer ever. That’ll get him to agree.
The Reds can have Margot all they want. Benintendi is off limits.
If the reds don’t like Owens then maybe the Sox can offer Marrero, Margot, and Michael Chavis.
The Red Sox should be all over this guy if Gray and Sale are truly “unavailable.”
Everyone is available in baseball.White Sox would trade Sale for Swihart,Moncada,Margot and Owens.But would you give up that?
White Sox or A’s aren’t trading young controllable aces for anyone less than Bogaerts or Betts in the deal. It’s going to be a trade that hurts.
Please man both those guys by themself are worth as much as Sale
No. They don’t have the record of production that he does. Sure they had great seasons but there is some level of uncertainty in them, not to mention their lacking “ace” cache.
Chris Sale is an ace who will be paid like a #4 starter for the next 4 years. Betts and Bogaerts have great upside but have yet to produce results that are anything close to what Sale has done. Not to mention Bogaerts is control through 2020 and Betts is controlled through 2021 while Sale is control through 2019 so it’s not like there is a big discrepancy in team control.
You really didn’t watch Bogaerts and Betts this season have you?
Betts and Bogaerts are younger, they play premium positions on both sides of the ball, and they both produced higher WAR than Sale did last year on their own… Calm down. The difference isn’t that big.
Not that it’s a bad offer but I don’t think Chicago would make that trade.
Yeah I really just don’t think sale is available for the right price. The Sox should look elsewhere.
That is like saying you should buy a Porsche because the learjet you want is not available. Both are great but they serve totally different purposes.
The Sox just need to build with any great pitching pieces out there. If the starting pitching isn’t there then go after the best bullpen piece.
I think he has Red Sox written all over him. I don’t see the Yankees going down this road since I think the cost hurts the Yankees more than the Red Sox in terms of where their farm system health is.
Plus they have Miller
Yes, they do, but they are also fielding offers for Miller so you never know. See what you can get and then trade the excess for prospects seems like a solid idea. I see them more likely to get Kimbrel if available than Chapman though.
Doesn’t make a lot of sense to trade Miller and then trade for Chapman. Very similar players and Miller is controlled for 3 more years at a lower salary.
Yup, that’s why I didn’t think it made sense for them even though they keep saying the Yankees are interested.
Why give up the House ,when you can get a young and much cheaper Giles from the Phillies.
Giles would be nice for the Sox, no doubt. Maybe the Sox can get both in trades.
not so sure Giles is cheaper. more team control. Chapman won’t bring the farm. i could see Anderson espinoza as the main player in the Boston/Cincy deal.
Red Sox brass has hinted at Anderson Espinoza being off limits completely.
the next “Pedro” ha
makes no sense to me. remember when Bundy was off limits for the O’s…out again with fore arm strain…spells TJ. all these young arms should be available.
Well, he’s a 17 year old that can hit the high 90’s and has good control. And has dominated in leagues where he was the youngest player. Not someone you really trade. Particularly if you have a lack of high ceiling pitching prospects in your minors.
Are you kidding? No way is Espinoza going to be made available for Chapman.
well, i don’t think Devers or Margot is either. gotta give up something decent.
The Reds dont need young pitching they have a ton already they need bats
the top bats of boston are good, think Boston gives up a top prospect bat for Chap?
Margot would be available for Chapman. Definitely.
he’s rated higher than the Esp kid. Margot would be a good bat to acquire.
Espinoza? Yeah, not happening.
A see a lot of proposals involving Margot, don’t the Reds already have a faster version of him in Billy Hamilton? Billy’s minor league numbers were better than Margot’s and it hasn’t translated in much offensive success for him.
Both are speedy CF with good defense and basestealing abilities, who both probably don’t get on base enough to be impact players (Billy OBP in the minors was .351 – hasn’t translated yet.)
Hamilton could be traded like everyone else this off-season. Either way the Reds could build a team with Margot and Hamilton if they chose to do so. Just put Margot in rf. That would help them build a athletic and a younger lineup with speed. Margot would literally be the best known “proven” prospect the Reds could get for Chapman.
Hamilton is pre-arbitration, he’s exactly the type of player you don’t trade. Cheap and controllable. We have no idea what the Reds will actually get for him…
Good point.
Hamilton isn’t going anywhere this offseason. He has very limited trade value at this point, and is worth more to the Reds as an investment than as a trade chip. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll improve in 2016.
If the Reds acquired Margot I would expect him to spend the year in AA or AAA. Maybe he takes Hamilton’s job by 2017.
Agreed that Margot is probably at least two years away, but Hamilton is controlled for four. It just doesn’t seem like a great fit when the team has bigger needs than a speedy CF. (Like a power bat at 3B or corner OF.)
I’m sorry, but I’d rather see Boston get Ken Giles. Dude has future (and present) dynamic closer written all over him, and he doesn’t hit free agency until 2021. He’s the guy I’d want to build a bullpen around (and sign Darren O’Day!)
They could get both. Chapman is just as good as Giles though. He just costs more.
If they get Giles, I would want them to either hold onto the rest of the prospects or use them for a top-shelf starter, not for another late-inning reliever. They can always use $$$ to sign O’Day and another reliever, and at that point the bullpen would be very strong.
Chapman needs to be stretched out to be a starter in 2016
Chapman is a rental reliever whose making 13mil this season. The QO you can offer him has value, as does Chapman, but he isn’t worth a top tier prospect like Margot or a Benintendi as some on here are saying.
The surplus value simply isn’t there. Hes an expensive rental reliever. I think the best prospect the Reds could get from the Redsox would be Brian Johnson (whose still a top 100 prospect, but doesn’t offer the upside of a Benintendi or such)
For example, the Astros turned down the Reds asking price of Hader, Musgrove, and Martes for Chapman at the deadline (when Chapman had more control and thus more value) which in the Redsox system would probably be equal to about Johnson, Stank, and Ball.
I like Johnson. Wouldn’t want to see him go. Would rather see Owens leave. I think Johnson doesn’t have much trade value anyways after the way he was shut down the final 2 months of the year anyways.
It would seem that the Sox would have to give up some promising players for Chapman, who is a free agent after this coming season. Would he really be worth losing players for just one year?