Dunkirk, NY – I see this morning where the NY Yankees have extended the contract of Aroldis Chapman. I’m not thrilled about this. While I understand why the Yankees did this (not many other choices on the open market), I think over time it’s not going to work out well.
My objection does not really stem from his numbers, although given that his fastball is clearly slowing down, and that he has introduced a slider to his repertoire, the numbers should regress. In fact, his numbers this year were good enough to earn him the AL Reliever of the Year Award. At 31, he can’t keep this up for much longer, but the Yankees apparently were concerned enough about him going to another team that their outlay for him over 6 years tops $104MM.
Rather, my objections are moral. Chapman received a 30-game suspension in the 2016 season for a domestic violence incident, in which he was alleged to have choked his girlfriend during an argument and fired a gun 8 times in his garage. His girlfriend pressed no charges, and Chapman admitted only to firing the gun. He lost approximately $1.7MM in salary. The Yankees, considering he is a one-inning closer, lost his services for probably 15-ish innings. The 30-game suspension kept him eligible for free agency in terms of service time.
That’s a rather weak punishment for trying to both physically and psychologically intimidate someone. Chapman always exudes an air of intimidation on the mound, and has that now-famous stare when he completes a save. When he was throwing 103 MPH, that fastball was indeed intimidating. You would not want to get hit with a hardball at that speed, and hitters rightfully feared that very outcome. It made facing him a dangerous situation.
But he no longer throws 103 MPH, and hitters today can get around on 98. His command has also become a factor, and that was evident in the ALCS this year, when he went to his slider in Game 6. He was not commanding that fastball, and his location was all over the place. So he tried to double up on sliders with Altuve. You know the rest.
I am getting tired of seeing this pattern repeat itself, where athletes who thrive on intimidation bring that into their lives outside of the game, and suffer little consequence for it. The whole chain of events surrounding Houston’s acquisition of Roberto Osuna was for me a turning point. Simply put, I don’t want to see people like that succeed. Domestic abuse is becoming more rampant in pro sports of all sorts, and I simply dislike seeing characters like these achieve financial success despite their behavior. Seeing Chapman get financially rewarded by the Yankees in the face of sure career regression and bad behavior just doesn’t sit well with me.
I do not see this changing any time soon. Both college and pro sports generate far, far too much money for those in power to want to change the system. I no longer watch the NFL because of the sickening aura of heightened violence the sport now exudes. I wonder if the time will come when I give up watching baseball as more and more men like Chapman and Osuna get handsomely rewarded. -twl