After rumors and speculation surrounded the New York Yankees bullpen for the last few weeks - specifically regarding who would close in 2016 - manager Joe Girardi appeared on the YES Network on Monday night and said Aroldis Chapman will enter Spring Training as the team's ninth-inning man.
This comes as little surprise since Chapman is arguably the best closer in the MLB, but was it premature for the Yankees to announce such a move? And was it the right decision?
Chapman is under contract for the 2016 season before he becomes a free agent, barring a lengthy suspension from the MLB due to his alleged involvement in a domestic violence case back in October (a long suspension could delay his free agency). On the other hand, fellow lights-out relievers Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances are under team control for at least the next three seasons, which perhaps makes Girardi's announcement a bit puzzling.
Here are three reasons as to why naming Chapman the closer was not the right decision at this juncture in the offseason for the Yankees.
Chapman is not guaranteed to start the year as an active player
As we just noted, Chapman is under investigation by the MLB for his alleged involvement in an October domestic abuse case, which is the main reason both the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers axed their trade endeavors for the left-hander.
Under the league's new domestic violence policy, the MLB has the autonomy to investigate players involved in such cases and hand down a punishment regardless of the legal outcome. With so many domestic violence incidents occurring throughout professional sports in recent years, the MLB likely does not want to appear soft on the issue, as the NFL did in its initial slap-on-the-wrist two-game suspension for Ray Rice.
Commissioner Rob Manfred won't make that mistake when dealing with the cases involving Chapman, Jose Reyes and Yasiel Puig. However, rumors suggested there may not be enough evidence for the MLB to hand down a lengthy suspension to Chapman, which is why many believe the Yankees went ahead and acquired the closer.
Still, there's a chance for a brief suspension, so why even name a closer when the fate of one of the candidates is largely unknown at this point?
Andrew Miller at least deserved a shot to compete for the job
Yes, general manager Brian Cashman said he spoke to Miller, who said he'd be willing to undertake any role to help the team. Miller also said the same thing when the Yankees signed him to a four-year, $36 million deal since many believed Dellin Betances had a chance of succeeding Mariano Rivera as the closer in the Bronx.
But still, Miller was the glue that held the Yankees' bullpen together in 2015. He missed a month of action and still posted a 2.04 ERA and 0.86 WHIP with 36 saves and 100 strikeouts in 60 games (61-2/3 innings). How is that not deserving of a shot to at least compete for the job that was his?
Chapman managed to put up stellar numbers (1.63 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 33 saves and 116 strikeouts in 65 games) with the lowly Cincinnati Reds, but as it stands right now, he's new to the picture. It's unknown how well he'll be able to handle the New York pressure or even the tougher American League lineups.
(He'll probably be fine, but it's still a fairly big adjustment he needs to make.)
To blindly hand the job over to Chapman, who has pitched his whole career in the National League, and snub Miller, who has pitched six years in the AL East and fulfilled the role brilliantly last year, is a bit premature, and, dare I say, a tad disrespectful.
It's simply bad publicity for the Yankees to go ahead and make Chapman the closer before the MLB makes its ruling
Rarely does the public view someone involved in a domestic abuse case/investigation as an upstanding citizen - regardless of the outcome of that situation. Look at Greg Hardy, who was never convicted of domestic abuse despite the disgusting police report that undoubtedly should have resulted in a slam-dunk conviction.
Merely being associated with such an act tarnishes one's reputation. That probably won't change in Chapman's case.
The Yankees have already been under scrutiny for acquiring the left-hander after other teams backed away from making a deal with the Reds.
"The Yankees should be ashamed of themselves for acquiring a player with pending domestic violence charges," UltraViolet's Nita Chaudhary told the New York Daily News shortly after the trade.
"Domestic violence is an epidemic in this country and no player, no matter how fast or well he throws a baseball should go unpunished."
"Urging the Yankees to reconsider, [New York City] Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito accused the Yankees of 'condoning this kind of violence when you bring him on to be part of this team,'" Newsday wrote back in December.
New York pounced on the opportunity to sign Chapman because his value was low due to the domestic violence allegations. They didn't give up and top prospects in the deal (before the allegations the Reds were reportedly asking for two or three top prospects). That doesn't give the Yankees a free pass in this scenario, but it's probably not awfully reasonable to say the Yankees are condoning domestic violence with their acquisition of Chapman. It's not like the Reds were going to kick them off their team if the MLB didn't suspend him. He would have been pitching in 2016 whether he was with the Reds or anyone else.
However, in promoting him to closer, the Yankees do give off another poor message since they did not act in accordance with the MLB investigation. (They did, however, act in accordance with the police investigation, since the case was closed on Dec. 8.) He was given the closer job without throwing a single pitch as a Yankee or paying for his alleged wrongdoing (if that so happens to be the case).
I'd say that's a lot worse than trading for him with full understanding of his run-in with the law.
