Albertin Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz, also known as the “Cuban missile” has been the most elite reliever in Major League Baseball since his free agent signing in 2010 with the Cincinnati Reds after his 2009 defection from Cuba.
Chapman arrived in the Bronx in 2016 as the World record-holder for the fastest pitch in MLB history at 105.1 mph, as well as being the fastest MLB pitcher to reach 500 strikeouts and was immediately announced as the Yankees closer for 2016; however, that year he was traded to the Chicago Cubs and was a deciding factor in their World Series Championship success.
When Chapman was signed as a free-agent by the Yankees after the 2016 season, he received the largest free-agent contract ever offered to a reliever and he rewarded the Yankees in 2017 with an un-Chapman-like year recording only 22 saves in 52 innings pitched for a 3.22 ERA. He finished 17th in the league that year among closers, according to ESPN.com, although the Yankees came within one game of going to the World Series.
In 2018, however, Chapman finished ninth among closers with 32 saves in 51.1 innings pitched and a 2.45 ERA, impressive when you consider he was on the disabled list with left knee tendinitis for nearly a month between August and September.
2018, however, ended on a low note for Chapman as he was eased back into the lineup on September 21, 2018 against the Boston Red Sox and had the misfortune to put a couple of men on base in front of Mookie Betts who hit a 3-run blast that essentially clinched the AL East title for the Red Sox.
Enter Edwin Diaz, once an up and coming closer, now decisively arrived. Diaz won the American League Reliever of the Year Award for 2018. He profiled at eighth in the league in 2017 among closers, but worked his way up to number one in 2018 with 57 saves in 73.1 innings pitched and a .160 batting average against. Diaz finished with 124 strikeouts and a 0.79 WHIP. According to Wikipedia, his 57 saves tied him with Bobby Thigpen for the second highest single-season saves total of all-time.
The 26 year old, Puerto Rican born Diaz broke into the league with the Seattle Mariners in 2016 in a big way-within two months of his MLB debut with the Mariners, he broke the Mariners’ record for consecutive strikeouts and was determined to be the team’s closer. Neither Diaz nor the Mariners have looked back since.
During this offseason, the Mariners announced a rebuild and have made a number of players available, including James Paxton, whom the Yankees acquired in a trade for Justus Sheffield, Erik Swanson and Dom Thompson-Williams.
Other top-notch players, such as Robinson Cano, Mitch Haniger, Jean Segura, and Edwin Diaz may also be available according to recent reports and rumor has it that the Yankees have had interest.
Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees expressed strong interest in Diaz, who Sherman says, is being paired with Cano by the Mariners in a package in order to stimulate interest in Cano.
The Mariners are “very motivated” to find a way to rid themselves of Robinson Cano and as much of the five years at $120 million left on his contract, according to an executive involved in trade talks with Seattle. So much so that the Mariners are — at minimum — exploring attaching star closer Edwin Diaz to a deal to further stimulate interest.
The Mets, Yankees, Braves, Phillies and Red Sox were expressing the strongest interest in Diaz — though not all of them were willing to take on Cano to acquire the reliever.
Whether the Yankees would have interest in reuniting with Cano is fodder for a different article, suffice it to say, Diaz would be a welcome addition to the Yankees bullpen.
The question is, after nearly a decade in MLB, is Chapman becoming the victim of time and losing some of his effectiveness? J.D. Martinez of the Boston Red Sox claimed to Pete Abraham of NESN that Chapman “used to be the only guy in the league who was throwing 100 regularly. Now you see more guys doing it and when you face him, it’s not as intimidating.”
Is the knee injury that kept him on the disabled list for nearly a month in August and September going to become a chronic problem?
Age and injury come to all players sooner or later, but are they beginning to dog Chapman about to enter his tenth year in the league?
The bullpen, which was projected by Fangraphs prior to the 2018 season to be “possibly historic,” missed the mark, finishing behind the Astros and Athletics for the best bullpens in the league.
While the bullpen was still very good, featuring pitchers such as Chapman, Dellin Betances, David Robertson, Zach Britton, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder, the addition of Diaz would certainly raise their projections for 2019.
Trading for Diaz might, in fact, make this bullpen “possibly historic” in 2019. David Robertson and Zach Britton are both free agents and one or both may be re-signed by the Yankees; however the addition of Diaz would certainly seem to make at least one of them unnecessary.
Yankee fans may have to get used to a new closer in 2019, if the Yankees are successful in acquiring Diaz. Fans may see Chapman transition into taking on the 8th inning set-up role as the season progresses, especially if age and injury are taking their toll on what has been and will continue to be a stellar career.
The Yankee bullpen would be fearsome with Betances, Chapman and Diaz lined up to close out games. Bullpens are the stuff championships get built on, but rumors are the stuff dreams are built on.
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