There’s been plenty of talk about Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen over the past 24 hours. At least four teams (the Yankees, Marlins, Dodgers and Nationals) appear to be in the mix for top-tier closers, and the Yankees have reportedly made offers to both (though Chapman is their top target). There’s also been word of a $92MM offer to Chapman (via USA Today’s Bob Nightengale), as noted in yesterday’s roundup of rumors surrounding the market’s top two closers. We’ll keep track of the latest on this pair today as they move toward setting records for relievers…
- “Everyone is waiting on Chapman” to make a decision, a source tells ESPN’s Jayson Stark. The idea is that Chapman’s deal will set the market for Jansen. One of the teams pursuing Chapman expects him to sign somewhere within 24 hours, although Stark cautions that the exact timetable for Chapman’s signing isn’t known. Both the Yankees and Marlins have made five-year offers to Chapman, Stark writes.
- After acquiring Adam Eaton, the Nationals would like their next move to be a Chapman acquisition, Nightengale tweets. The Nationals, of course, are short a closer after the departure of Mark Melancon to San Francisco.
- There’s an “increasing sense” among teams in the market for top-tier closers that both Jansen and Chapman are nearing a decision, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
- Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald tweets that Marlins manager Don Mattingly has reached out to Jansen to gauge his level of interest in coming to Miami. He’s also done the same with veteran backstop A.J. Ellis, in whom the Marlins are said to have interest. Mattingly managed both Jansen and Ellis with the Dodgers, which could influence their decision process to some extent. Nightengale tweets that Jansen told Mattingly he is definitely open to the possibility of pitching in Miami.
Don’t see the Yankees going into the $90’s for either arm.
I agree. I think they will come close to 90 but not actually into the 90’s. Its a risky move investing that much into any pitcher, but like I said yesterday when the Sox got Sale, it’s worth the gamble.
I disagree I don’t think it’s worth the gamble. Let the Sox do thing and the Yankees do theirs. As best I can tell none of Dombrowski’s trades or signings from last year paid any dividends for the Sox. And he/they spent a boatload of money last winter that’s not including the prospects he traded for guys like Kimbrel and Smith.
The Sox pretty much went to the 2016 postseason on the backs of what Epstein and Cherrington did NOT Dombrowski.
We won the East…
Cherington finished in last place 2 years in a row what exactly did he do to help get them to the post season last year
If I have to explain it to you you obviously haven’t followed the careers or knowledgeable of who was at the helm of the Red Sox when guys like: Bogaerts, Betts, Bradley, Porcello, Benintendi and Rodriguez etc.. were signed by the Red Sox.
Not understanding what Cherington did for the current Red Sox team just shows your ignorance
i understand the mind-set, but if I were the Yankees I wouldn’t do this if they are all thinking about getting under the luxury tax level. They have an open field in front of them next year and a healthy farm system. Leverage your dollars better than on a closer–no matter how good that closer might be
I believe the Yankees are already over it for next season (barely over, but still over).
They are at roughly $196MM +/- versus a tax threshold of $195MM. The Yankees if they so chose could easily get under it
People are forgetting that the Yankees have around 50 mil coming off the books after the upcoming season. I’m sure they know what they’re doing
Actually it’s closer to $80MM. CC, A-Rod, Holliday, Pineda, Clippard for luxury tax purposes.
Cotts has them at 149
They’re only talking about getting under the luxury tax because of the legacy contracts that have been clearing the last few years. I have little doubt they’ll spend tons of money once they feel they have a young core to that’s ready to be built around.
Kenley’s another Greinke. He’s going to the highest bidder, no matter the fit.
I wouldn’t put Greinke in that category necessarily. He wanted to be the ace of a staff, which is part of why he chose Arizona. He wasn’t going to be that with either LA or SF. Plus, Arizona is a solid team. If they can come back healthy, they have one of the best offenses in the league. They can still contend.
You just sound like a Diamondbacks fan. Simply put, Greinke followed the team that offered him the most money. Even he said that himself.
Definitely not a DBacks fan. Just stating that they were a top 5 offense in 2015 before he signed, and a lot had them pegged for the playoffs after signing him and trading for Miller (even though it wasn’t worth the prospects). They just had injuries and no one thought Miller would fall off that badly. Greinke also said himself that he wanted to be an Ace and that was a factor.
I don’t recall Grienke saying he had a need to be the best on the staff (which seems like kind of a silly thing to want especially for such an analytical person), but I do remember him saying that he liked what management was doing in Arizona. Of course it did not hurt that they offered him the best deal.
Greinke was quoted as saying he’d rather play with a last place team for 30 million dollars , than play for a winner
Source?
In all fairness, his actual quote was “I could play for the worst team if they paid the most. … If the last-place team offers $200 million and the first-place team offers $10, I’m going to go for the $200-million no matter what team it was.”
He then said if it came down to a couple of million dollars, money wouldn’t be a factor. Also, this was before his first big contract with the Dodgers when he wanted to get paid. Not before signing with the DBacks.
What a loser. When baseball players actually want to win and pull their heads out of their own greedy asses then we will finally see some real team chemistry and fun baseball.
Greinke is a piece of work who collected his massive payday and checked-out effort wise.
One years salary is security enough for a lifetime.
These guys border on greedy especially when it comes between $70MM and $90MM.
They wanna complain over that money when most of us make under $50K annually in other trades.
athletes want to be the best and in pro sports….the best get the most money. if you were that talented, you would too. that’s human nature. grienke didn’t have a great season BUT he still won nearly twice as many games as he lost for a terrible team.
That’s what many FA do though.
says the bitter dodger fan
It’s fact, wouldn’t you? Baseball lasts so long, you need to think about your future and your family. Financial security out weighs everything to these guys. Jansen is more concerned about be paid his “worth” I highly think he will be in Miami next year.
Don’t you think you might be oversimplifying just a little? Seems to me, it seems a person could be just as financial secure with $85M as they would with $90M. The issue is little more complicated than that. For one, the agents push to maximize because they get their cut. The other is it’s human nature to take the best offer, and to automatically assume that you’re getting the most respect from whomever gives it to you.
Uhhh, just about every free agent in the game goes to the highest bidder.
Still would love for the Nats to be in on either one of these guys. 5 year deal with an opt out after 2 (right in line with Harper’s departure).
Looks like Jansen is going to end up in Miami (5 years, 85 million with an opt-out after 2 seasons) and Chapman ends up with the Nationals (5 years, 95 million with an opt-out after 2 seasons), since Yankees don’t seem that willing to spend and Dodgers have to sign Justin Turner AND add a second baseman… Dodgers and Yankees will end up with at least two out of Holland/Ziegler/Uehara.
As a Marlin fan, wish they would just sign Ziegler (who would likely be really effective in Miami) and invest in Jason Hammel.
I’d be shocked if that was the case. My general feeling is that Chapman ends up in either New York or Washington and Jansen back to LAD. I don’t see how the Dodgers can’t end up with an elite closer. The Yankees don’t NEED him since they could use Betances and they are rebuilding. The Nats need him since they are in buy mode.
Yankees are idiots. Their betting in all on these prospects. They could have got sale, so now give chapman 90mill and not a reliable arm in the rotation. Good luck on the rebuild you fools. George Steinbrenner is going to break out of his tomb and straighten out his penny pinching idiot cheapskate son.
Why give up Frazier, Torres, and others for one pitcher when the Yankees aren’t one pitcher away from winning a World Series? It’d be irresponsible to make that move and set the team back by having no prospects ready to come in and contribute. Sign Chapman because (1) still dominant, (2) still young, (3) no draft pick attached. The Yankees have the money for this move. Let the kids grow and get better and keep an eye on the 2018 off season when Machado, Harper, and others are available. Then compliment what is in place with signings then.
I disagree, The trade for Sale has made the Bosox an “uber” team so signing Chapman is a waste at this point. Regarding Frasier and Torres, they weren’t even here 6 months ago and the Yanks farm system was already highly regarded. I would have gone all in on Sale because he could lead the staff for the next three years at below market value, helping them achieve their goal of being under the tax threshold. Prospects are just prospects, and only 1 in 3 hit as a major league player. The Sale opportunity doesn’t come along very often. All that said, I would package Mateo,and Judge and one of Sheffield/Tate/Kap to the Nationals for Harper NOW so we can get a good two years out of him before we resign him to a mega-extension. Otherwise, Chapman is just an unnecessary luxury on a team that is going to finish behind the Sox for at least the next 3 years.
Lol harper isnt going to be traded and that package would be 1/5 of what would be needed
No the Yankees are just tired of having an insane payroll and bad farm backups only to not win a world series or not even make the playoffs due to aging rosters still owed large sums of money.
It’s just being thick on your part to not see the benefits of giving themselves a year to develop young players under cheap control and then go for the free agents or trades.
I agree about the starting rotation. Tanaka and CC are the best out of them but even they have days they give up multiple runs. The Yankees need an ace starter if they are considering either of the 2 elite closers. I mean, why get Chapman or Jansen if they won’t get many save opportunities? They have all these prospects who may or may not be as good as they are hoping, why not trade a couple to help with their below average pitching staff?
Dodgers and their lame front office are worthless everyone around them go made it to the playoffs are bettering themselves while they resign injured retreads and lose someone of the caliber of Jansen. Just looking to get the draft pick from Jansen and then they’ll sign holland and try to sell him off as the next great relief pitcher they revived so they don’t have to spend their precious millions The mindset in LA is be competitive and that will fill the seats and their pockets it’s all a big tease never caring about winning it all. Very oblivious in this years playoffs they were undermanned against the real playoff teams who want to win
I think they are way too cautious. Even Friedman admitted yesterday that if you try to rationalize every decision that you will come in third on every free agent signing. Hoping this is his way of recognizing the downside of not taking more chances, and not a description of his plan.
While I’m taking a wait and see approach, I also think that part of the agenda is to lower payroll. While I believe that can be accomplished in the next 2-3 years on the offensive side, I don’t think they can afford to let one of the top 2 closers in the game walk when they’ve got no one to step into that position and fragile arms on the rebound in the starting rotation. Maeda is one of the fragile arms.
Wait, so the dodgers have had the highest payroll and you’re accusing them of being cheap?
And they already signed rich hill to what is currently the 4th richest free agent deal of this offseason.
And the dodgers traded for reddick and hill, but they are so afraid of touching the farm?!
This is some real poor quality complaining.
Debt debt debt dent debt lose.
Thats the pattern.
Dent?
1988 was along time ago This front office is afraid to make any move that might effect that farm system. I’m surprised with Magic as part of the ownership and how he likes to win he can’t push his weight around and get something done . That was what was so awesome about Jerry Buss he wanted to win and he always went out a have the city and himself a winner. It’s a business about making money only for this ownership pathetic indeed
Magic is the invisible man. He doesn’t even show up to games, except in the postseason.
I see Chapman back in pinstripes for 5yr/100mil. Jansen to the nationals in the 4yr/60mil range
Jansen will make more than that $70mil at least.
Chapman to LA and Jansen to DC.
No way Jansen makes less than Melancon.
When you read an unsourced rumor, such as Chapman being offered $92M, and it’s not even attributed to an unnamed team official, what are the chances that it came from Chapman’s agent who is just trying to fuel a bidding war?
It could be that, but would it really be all that surprising if he did, indeed, get an offer like that?
Not in the slightest, especially considering Melancon signed for 4yrs/$62mil. Both Jansen and Chapman are going to sign at least 5 year contracts, with the AAV being higher than the $16mil/yr Melancon signed for.
Can someone explain to me the reasoning behind the Marlins wanting a top tier closer? why not worry about that Fernandez-less rotation and the glaring weakness that is. Pointless to get a high end closer when he has few games to close out. Who’s their best SP now? Conley???? Yikes.
i think its more about Chapman and his link to Cuba. He will sell tickets and jerseys etc. they dont need a closer for that type of money but Jose was so popular in that market , maybe Chapman helps fill the void. Lots of Cubans in Mia.
Probably true since it’s Loria making the push for the closer and he’s more interested in the revenue-generating aspect of things than the GM would be.
Then why are they making offers to jansen? Is he an honorary cuban or something that I missed? Additionally, mlb teams split all the revenue generated from selling MLB licensed things (jerseys), it doesn’t just go to that team
Looks like chapman will probably not be signing with the Yankees. Bummer
In all honesty I’d rather sign Jansen than Chapman so waiting on Chapman seems silly.
aj ellis signed with the marlins a few hours ago, so yeah, i think it’s fair to say they have interest in him
Yanks sign Chapman and then trade for Quintana!
Looks like AJ Ellis is going to Miami. Miami might be big on Kenley.
waiting for the yankees to sign chapman