7-13-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter
It seems like the Pirates dumping the remainder of a 10.5 million dollar contract most seasons recently would be a given, but this year regardless of how realistic you see it, they’re functionally “in this”.
The Bucs could keep him as whomever they’d trade him to would undoubtedly be trying to bolster their roster for a playoff run with the big lefty and they supposedly have the same aspirations.
Last year the Royals moved Chapman after he pitched 29.1 innings for them and in exchange they received from the Texas Rangers LHP Cole Ragans and OF Roni Cabrera. Cole has turned himself into arguably the best young left handed starter in baseball.
Listen, the Royals were bad last year, dealing Chapman was an easy choice and just because I show you what they got for Aroldis, doesn’t mean the Pirates would do as well. Just means he probably brings back something of value.
The Pirates don’t need to be prospect hungry, but they could use some more offensively oriented help at the minor league level.
A team at or around .500 probably shouldn’t be looking to move anyone, especially someone who regularly takes back end of the bullpen reps. Thing is, I’m not sure he really fills the role as well as some other options the Pirates have such as Colin Holderman or Carmen Mlodzinski.
In other words, Aroldis Chapman in my mind is a rare player who is both potentially expendable and still valuable enough to plausibly return something worth the sacrifice.
The Pirates would be sacrificing depth, in a spot most teams are trying to add to, at a time where it typically makes no sense to do so. When I say this is a rare situation, I mean it, you don’t often get to make decisions like this where you don’t lose or win before you make it. Baseball just doesn’t often allow for that kind of thing.
He’s a 4.00 plus ERA pitcher in 2024. Still has electric stuff, absolutely still a back end of the pen type arm and his reputation precedes him.
I will say, this could send some unwanted mixed messages to your club. You could mask it by bringing in other players to help the club because that would be seen as a shuffling of the deck, but if all you do is move Chapman for a prospect, I’m not sure the team would see it as a move that screams “we’re trying”. If dealing Chapman is part of a series of moves that adds another outfielder or overall improvements to the club, I think most of this is assuaged.
This is going to be interesting, and it really could be on the table regardless of how they see themselves.
Now, should it be?
To me, I think so. For one thing if I’m coaching this team, I probably would prefer using other players who provide a bit more consistency. If I’m a GM, I probably want to use players who have performed at a higher level for 1/8 the price tag.
This would be seen as a dump, and know what, the team wouldn’t care how you felt about it if it were. I don’t care what they call it, to me if it makes sense and you can get a bat that maybe helps next year, or hey, maybe even procure an outfielder who is a bench player on a deep outfield team but takes a larger role here. An old fashioned baseball trade, maybe even retain some of Chapman’s salary to improve the return.
Point is, I’m glad to hear Chapman is being shopped, and I’d advise you as a fan to not necessarily classify it as a salary dump until you’ve seen the entire picture.
It’s rare you can move a player of this caliber and not feel you’ve hurt your team’s chances, to me, this is that sweet spot and I really hope the Pirates can take advantage here.
Steel City Pirates 