Reds hope to extend Aroldis Chapman, Homer Bailey
By Matt Fisher
Contract extensions and locking up core players seems to be the way to go as far as big off season moves go this winter, and the Reds are hoping they can get in on the trend.
General Manager Walt Jocketty went on MLB Network Radio’s show Front Office to discuss the state of his team, and one of the topics that came up was contract extensions, namely for starter Homer Bailey and closer Aroldis Chapman.
Bailey told reporters Friday that most talks regarding his impending arbitration case surrounded a multi-year deal, rather than just a one-year avoidance deal. Jocketty seemed to reinforce that claim, saying that he’s ‘confident that we’ve made enough progress on a multi-year deal that at some point we’ll get that done.’ The GM did not rule out settling on a one-year deal first in order to buy more time to talk about it. Bailey is hoping that an extension is decided upon before his arbitration date on the 20th.
In light of the Atlanta Braves locking up Craig Kimbrel for four more years, Jocketty was asked about a possible contract extension for his own closer, hard-throwing lefty Aroldis Chapman.
Jocketty on extension with Chapman: "That's a possibility. We have talked about that and we're trying to take a couple of steps at a time."
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) February 16, 2014
The soon-to-be 26-year old is still three seasons away from free agency and is signed at $5 million dollars per year over the next two seasons. Chapman had been long rumored to be a candidate to move into the starting rotation, but at this point, it seems he’s destined to be the team’s closer for the remainder of his contract. He has earned 38 saves over the last two seasons, putting up a 2.54 ERA last season with a 15.8 K/9 rate as a two-time All-Star.