New York Yankees Aroldis Chapman: Bronx Blockbuster

When Brian Cashman says he is not done making moves, he sure does mean it.

After a whirlwind offseason of rumors and trade chatter, we may have finally had our biggest blockbuster deal yet today. The New York Yankees have acquired one of, if not the best, relief pitchers in baseball, Aroldis Chapman.

Now I know that essentially Chapman had been traded earlier this offseason to the Dodgers and that was certainly a surprise in itself. But, for the Yankees to swoop in, when already having a potent backend combo of Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, for me it serves as the biggest blockbuster trade of the offseason because it seemed as though the Yanks would not even be in the market for him.

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Before we go any further, there is one huge elephant in the room pertaining to his fantasy and real life value. In the offseason reports surfaced about a domestic violence incident in which Chapman was one of the parties involved. This kyboshed the Dodgers deal and with the new domestic violence policy in the MLB, Chapman looks to face some sort of suspension for whatever part he may have had in the incident.

(I highly recommend all fans to look up the incident themselves and formulate their own opinion instead of just regurgitating what you may have heard or hear in the upcoming weeks)

We may never know the full details, but surely the MLB will set the tone for the new policy by dishing out some sort of punishment. With that said, Chapman will still be of value in fantasy baseball in 2016 no matter what early season delay he has.

If the Yankees hold on to Andrew Miller, they would have easily the best bullpen trio in baseball. The Royals seem to have revitalized the idea of having essentially bullpen aces a few years ago and across baseball we have seen more and more teams start building these types of bullpens. But, this trio easily may be the best we have seen in baseball since the 1990 Cincinnati Reds “Nasty Boys” trio. In an article last week, I surmised that Andrew Miller could challenge being the best fantasy closer in 2016, so that appears off the table now as Chapman will surely become the ninth inning man.

Betances, Chapman, and Miller were the top three SO/9 relievers in baseball in 2015 and now they all reside in the same bullpen. They are arguably the three best relievers in baseball period (shout out to Wade Davis as well) because they combine their dominance with massive K outputs making them valuable no matter what league format owners are in. The bright side for Yankee fans is not only do they get Chapman and basically cut games down to six inning affairs, there is also the chance that they could keep Chapman past the upcoming season because he would not become a free agent in 2017 if winds up missing more than 45 days of the regular season. It is essentially a win-win deal.

From a fantasy perspective, I do not have to bring up Chapman’s stats because we all know how dominant he has been and he does not look to be slowing down anytime soon. Great America Ballpark and Yankees Stadium are both hitter’s ballparks, so that should be a negligible move. By shortening games, the Yankees also help out their shaky rotation by basically only requiring them to get through five innings so it should help the team as a whole and allow him to have ample save opportunities whenever he plays.

If not for the impending suspension Chapman would easily be my top ranked closer as he has earned that designation through his K numbers and overall production in his career. Miller and Betances will remain solid RP picks, especially in leagues that reward Holds. This trio should offer a ton of K this season, so when drafting look to them to solidify your bullpen and help your rotation out.

Next: Julio Teheran: Rebound in 2016?

The suspension cloud lurks and it is up to the MLB based on the evidence given just how severe the suspension could be. Chapman should continue to be one of the first RP taken, unless the suspension is 50+ games, which would obviously severely cut into his totals. Target this trio on draft day and possibly even try to snag Chapman and Miller or Betances ensuring that you are getting those huge weekly advantageous stats regardless.

2016 Early Projections: 30 SV/2.45 ERA/110 K/1.10 WHIP

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