Cubs exec swings for fences with Aroldis trade
CUBS president of baseball operations Theo Epstein got Aroldis Chapman and a check mark for honesty.
In July 2014, Epstein traded two veteran starters, Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel, to Oakland for essentially an elite shortstop prospect, Addison Russell, outfield prospect Billy McKinney and a pitcher with major league time, Dan Straily.
At the time of the deal, Oakland had the AL’s best record and was going for it. Chicago was rebuilding. However, the A’s collapsed and were eliminated in the wild-card game and, in the aftermath, A’s GM Billy Beane was lambasted for a damn-the-future trade. One of his biggest supporters, though, was Epstein.
“Billy is one of the few general managers who’s not afraid to make a deal like that to increase his chances of winning in the postseason,” Epstein told Jerry Crasnick of ESPN this spring. “It was a brave trade, and I admire him for making it. We were just in a different place than they were. I like to think if we were in the same place, I would have had the guts to acquire what our big league team needed, which is what he did.”
Well, here he is. Epstein honored the words. To get what he perceived his team — which currently has the majors’ best record — needed most, Epstein traded an elite shortstop (Gleyber Torres), McKinney, a pitcher with major league time, Adam Warren, plus Aball outfielder Rashad Crawford.
He did a reverse Beane, albeit with the kind of money at his disposal to solve future problems that Beane does not have in Oakland.
What Epstein got back was arguably the greatest power closer in history. It is a move designed to remove any lingering hope the Cardinals or Pirates have of catching the Cubs in the NL Central, increase the likelihood they will hold off the Nationals and Giants for the NL’s best record and — crucially — give the Cubs a huge October weapon.
The Cubs’ bullpen was a place of vulnerability. Now, their fine closer, Hector Rondon, can move to the eighth inning and Pedro Strop to the seventh and the Cubs are better positioned to win their first title since 1908. Suddenly, if a lefty beast such as Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy or Brandon Belt is due up in the ninth, well, good luck. Of course, with Chapman, lefty or righty hardly matters. Chapman is averaging 100.7 mph with his fastball this year — nearly 2.5 mph better than any other reliever. His career rate of 15.2 strikeouts per nine innings is the best ever.
He is, however, a free agent who was suspended for a month to begin this season due to a domestic abuse incident. So he is not perfect and, for the Cubs, he might not be for 2017. This is a win-now move, writ large.
Epstein made it clear after the 2014 campaign that when he thought his team could contend, he would go for it big time. That offseason he invested $153 million in an ace, Jon Lester, and $25 million in a manager, Joe Maddon. This past offseason, Chicago bought Jason Heyward, Ben Zobrist, John Lackey and retained Dexter Fowler.
When I asked an opposing NL executive what he thought of this trade, he praised the Yankees’ end (“an excellent return for two months of a reliever they could re-sign in the offseason”), but he added: “The Yanks shopped Chapman hard. This was clearly the best deal they could get. And it should be. Theo is going for it.”