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. Continue reading →