Kuzul

The Tampa Bay Rays could be making their way out of Tropicana Field.

Continue for updates.

St. Petersburg Council Approves Stadium Proposal

Thursday, Jan. 14

By a vote of 5-3, the St. Petersburg City Council agreed to allow the Rays to look for a new stadium outside of the city, according to the Tampa Tribune.       

Third time was the charm for Mayor Rick Kriseman to get approval from the council for a move outside of St. Petersburg.

The Rays have finished at the bottom of MLB in attendance in four of the last five seasons. In 2015, Tampa Bay reeled in an average of 15,403 fans, which is 2,000 fewer than the next team, the Cleveland Indians. As Rays owner Stuart Sternberg noted, “remaining at Tropicana Field until its contract with the city expires in 2027 is financially unsustainable,” per the Tampa Tribune.

The Tribune provided more details on the latest proposal:

It maintains a $24 million buyout, but also includes incentives that would pay the team half of potential development revenue on the 85-acre Tropicana site if it stays up to or beyond 2027. The Rays gets nothing if it leaves before the end of the lease.

The Rays also must show the city how they will evaluate stadium locations and give the city six months to make a case for the Tropicana Field location. And the proposal requires the team to pay half the cost to develop a master plan for the Tropicana site, up to $100,000, with or without a new stadium.

This is good news for the Rays, who have not been able to provide much fanfare despite being successful in the 2010s. Even when Tampa Bay made its lone World Series appearance in 2008, the Rays were 26th in attendance. One way to fix the problem is relocation, and this is one step in the right direction for Tampa Bay ownership.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Former New York Yankees pitcher Luis Arroyo passed away Wednesday at the age of 88 in his home country of Puerto Rico. 

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), the pitcher’s daughter said he was diagnosed with cancer in December and died Wednesday. Arroyo was the first Puerto Rican-born player to play for the Yankees, and the team offered its condolences on Twitter:

Arroyo pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955, the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1956-57, the Cincinnati Reds in 1959 and the Yankees from 1960-63. He was an All-Star in his rookie season in St. Louis, but his best year in the majors came in 1961 when he helped the Bronx Bombers win the World Series.

He finished with a 15-5 record, 2.19 ERA and major league-best 29 saves that season and even earned a victory in the Fall Classic over Cincinnati. He made his second and final All-Star team in 1961 as well.

He finished with a 40-32 record, 45 saves and 3.93 ERA throughout his eight career seasons.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The New York Yankees acquired Tyler Olson and Ronald Torreyes from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Rob Segedin, per Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal.

This is the second move from the Dodgers on Tuesday after they announced they traded Joe Wieland to the Seattle Mariners for Erick Mejia.   

Olson, a left-handed reliever, appeared in 11 games for the Mariners in 2015. He posted a 5.40 ERA in 13.1 innings pitched. He had a 2.08 ERA against left-handers in Triple-A, per MiLB.com, so he could become a lefty specialist for the Yankees in 2016.

Torreyes had a brief stay with the Dodgers last year, making eight plate appearances and going 2-for-6 at the plate. In the minors, he featured as a second baseman, third baseman, shortstop and even left fielder. He spent the majority of his time up the middle, though, so he’ll likely play second or short predominantly next year.

Rosenthal noted Los Angeles had previously designated both players for assignment.

Segedin has yet to appear in a major league game, spending 2015 with the Yankees’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. In 71 games, he hit .287/.360/.426 with seven home runs and 24 runs batted in. Should Yankees third baseman Chase Headley get injured, Segedin could fill in as a short-term replacement.

None of the three players moved will feature in his respective team’s Opening Day plans without an outstanding showing in spring training.

However, they’ll all provide depth over the course of the year in case the major league roster becomes depleted.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

In a little over a month, pitchers and catchers will report to Tampa, Florida, for the New York Yankees‘ spring training. Manager Joe Girardi is already figuring out how he’ll shuffle around the pitching staff and starting lineup.

Despite the fact Aroldis Chapman posted sub-2.00 earned run averages in 2014 and 2015, his arrival all but blocked Dellin Betances‘ path to the closer role. Girardi confirmed Monday that Chapman will have first crack at ninth-inning duties, per the team’s Twitter account:    

The move makes a lot of sense. Chapman was the Cincinnati Reds‘ closer for the last four years, while Betances finished 28 games in 152 appearances in the majors. Just as Chapman could struggle a bit in a setup role, there’s no guarantee Betances‘ dominance would regularly carry over into the final inning.

The only variable is whether Chapman will actually be available on Opening Day. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported MLB will likely rule on any possible suspension for the left-handed fireballer before March 1 after he was allegedly involved in a domestic incident with his girlfriend. Unless Chapman is officially suspended, he should be considered the Yankees’ closer.

Girardi also provided a few more personnel updates, including what Alex Rodriguez‘s role will be and how often the team plans on using the recently acquired Aaron Hicks, per Jack Curry of YES Network:

The news about A-Rod is hardly a revelation. According to Baseball-Reference.com, all but six of his appearances last year came at designated hitter. Barring an injury to Mark Teixeira or Chase Headley, Rodriguez should be kept away from first and third base.

The departure of the player sent packing in return for Hicks—John Ryan Murphy—opened up a spot at catcher, so Yankees fans will be happy to see Girardi will at least take a good look at Gary Sanchez. Baseball Prospectus rated the 23-year-old catcher the third-best player in the team’s system.

In 93 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year, Sanchez hit .274 with 18 home runs and 62 runs batted in.

Calling up Sanchez to the majors would allow New York to lessen Brian McCann’s workload behind the plate in 2016. If Girardi is willing to give Sanchez enough time this spring, he should prove himself worthy of a roster spot on Opening Day.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Most of the offseason headlines surrounding the Baltimore Orioles have focused on their high-priced game of chicken with first baseman Chris Davis. The O’s reportedly dangled a $154 million offer in front of the free-agent slugger, a franchise-record total but not enough to get him to bite—yet.

While we’re on the subject of nine-figure offers, Baltimore should toss some cash at another player, a superstar talent who’s already on the roster and won’t become a free agent until 2019.

We’re talking about third baseman Manny Machado, in case you hadn’t guessed. And the time is right for the Orioles to give him the full Mike Trout treatment.

Trout, you’ll recall, signed a six-year, $144.5 million extension with the Los Angeles Angels in 2014. The deal, inked when the outfielder was 22 years old, bought out his arbitration years and three years of potential free agency. Now, Trout won’t hit the market until after the 2020 season.

Maybe you’re balking at a Trout/Machado comparison. And, yes, there is indeed only one Mike Trout.

But Machado is absolutely in the same stratosphere, in terms of potential if not accomplishment.

First off, Machado is just 23 years old, meaning his prime is laid out in front of him. He’s already padded his resume with two All-Star appearances, two top-10 MVP finishes and a pair of Gold Gloves at third base.

If he hadn’t done so already, Machado truly broke out in 2015, bashing 35 home runs with an .861 OPS, 20 stolen bases and 14 defensive runs saved at the hot corner, per FanGraphs.

In September, he made his MLB debut at shortstop, a position where his power profiles even better.

If you like WAR, Machado’s 6.8 mark was third-best in the Junior Circuit, behind only Trout and AL MVP Josh Donaldson.

The “franchise player” label gets tossed around too liberally at times. Machado, though, is the Platonic ideal of a franchise player: young, steeped in ability and clearly still climbing toward his ceiling.

Yes, this is the part where we mention the knee surgeries Machado underwent in 2013 and 2014. But if there were lingering doubts about his durability, Machado answered them last season by appearing in all 162 games and making an MLB-leading 713 plate appearances. There was something deliberate about that iron-man output; it felt like Machado was sending a message.

Now, the Orioles can send a message to their fans. After winning the American League East in 2014, Baltimore regressed to an 81-81 finish last season, the very definition of mediocrity.

Extending Machado and ensuring he’ll remain an Oriole for the foreseeable future would go a long way toward rebuilding enthusiasm among the Baltimore faithful.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette acknowledged the possibility of a Machado extension in October, but he didn’t make it sound like a top priority.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do, and the fact that Manny’s gonna be here for the next three years under his current arrangement doesn’t mean that’s a back-burner item, but we have a lot more urgent things to look at,” Duquette said, per Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun.

More than two months into an offseason that hasn’t featured any blockbusters in Baltimore, it’s time to slide Manny to the front burner.

OK, so let’s talk details. What, exactly, would/should a Machado extension look like?

We’ve already laid out the Trout terms, and that’s a good starting point. When Trout put his name on that contract, he’d put together an AL Rookie of the Year campaign and twice been the AL MVP runner-up. He was also a year younger than Machado is now.

Most essentially, Trout’s contract allows him to test the market in his age-29 season, when he should be able to land at least one more massive payday. Heck, if contracts keep going the way they have been, we could be talking about deals in excess of $500 million.

So while you could argue Trout gave the Halos something of a “discount,” he’s set up to cash in down the road.

The Orioles could offer Machado a similar opportunity with a seven-year deal. That would buy out his arbitration years, plus three years of free agency, and allow Machado to hit the open market at age 30.

As for a dollar figure, something in the $130 million range seems fair and workable for both sides. It’s less than Trout got—especially when you adjust for inflating salaries—but still a sizable investment.

To create flexibility, Baltimore could backload the deal the way the Angels did with Trout, who made about $6 million last season and is due a series of raises that lift the annual value to around $34 million in the contract’s final three years.

No matter what, Machado is about to get considerably more expensive, as Camden Chat’s Mark Brown recently outlined:

The cheap years have run out for the team. The price of Machado will be going up every year for the next several years. Already, he’s estimated by MLBTR to be in line for a $5.9 million salary for next year. If his 2016 is like this, that could double for the year beyond. There’s no doubt he’s earned those raises. Eventually, you’ve got to pay that piper.

The time is now for the Orioles to think big and spend like their deep-pocketed division rivals. No, Baltimore will never be the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees. Machado, however, is worth a splurge that would blow past the six-year, $85.5 extension the club gave outfielder Adam Jones in 2012.

Here’s something else Duquette told the Baltimore Sun‘s Encina: “Manny’s a great player, we’d love to have him long term.”

It’s time for the O’s to put their money where their mouth is.

All statistics and contract information courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

We’re now less than 90 days away from Opening Day of the 2016 Major League Baseball season, and among the things that seem certain right now is this:

The AL East is pretty loaded.

This was going to be the case even if the division didn’t make any new additions. Some of the players pegged to return in 2016 were reigning American League MVP Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Troy Tulowitzki, David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Masahiro Tanaka, Chris Archer, Evan Longoria, Adam Jones and Manny Machado. Behold that list. It’s quite a list.

But thanks to the offseason, there’s now even more talent in the AL East. David Price, Matt Wieters and Darren O’Day chose to stick around, and the new arrivals include Aroldis Chapman, Craig Kimbrel, Carson Smith and Starlin Castro. Behold this list. It’s also quite a list.

This raises the question of how the five clubs in the AL East stack up heading into 2016. To answer that, there’s only one thing we can do: a good, old-fashioned power ranking.

1. Boston Red Sox

Key Losses: Wade Miley, Justin Masterson, Craig Breslow, Rich Hill

Key Additions: David Price, Craig Kimbrel, Carson Smith, Chris Young, Roenis Elias

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Sometimes a guy just has to stick to his guns. I predicted the Red Sox to be the 2016 AL East champs twice already, and now is no time to budge.

The Red Sox are coming off a 78-84 record in 2015 that put them in last place in the AL East for the third time in four years. But it’s worth noting that they finished the season on a positive note.

They went 34-26 in their final 60 games, mostly thanks to “Big Papi” continuing to defy Father Time and youngsters like Betts, Bogaerts and Blake Swihart all living up to their potential. The four of them make for a good foundation on offense, pointing to a potentially elite run-scoring unit if Dustin Pedroia can stay healthy and Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval can be something more than, well, terrible.

By the end of 2015, the only thing the Red Sox were lacking was impact pitching. Sure enough, that’s what they put in their sights this winter.

Priority No. 1 for new Red Sox boss Dave Dombrowski was finding an ace, and he got his man when he inked Price to a $217 million contract. He’s coming off his second American League ERA title in four years, and he, indeed, wants to be the guy that Boston’s rotation has been lacking.

“I want to pitch deep into ballgames,” Price said in December, via Julian Benbow of the Boston Globe. “That’s something I definitely take a lot of pride in. I want to try to give that bullpen a day off. And when I’m not pitching, I’m there for not only my other teammates, but all the other starters and all the other pitchers.”

Of course, Price can’t pitch every day. And after him, the Red Sox don’t have an obvious No. 2 starter. On days Price isn’t pitching, the Red Sox figure to lean heavily on their bullpen.

That shouldn’t be a problem, though. Kimbrel and Smith are joining Koji Uehara to form what should be a dominant bullpen trio. Shortening games has been a problem for the Red Sox relievers in the last two years, but that shouldn’t be the case in 2016.

Add it all up, and FanGraphs‘ WAR projections for 2016 has Boston pegged, not just as the best team in the AL East, but as the best team in the entire American League. And though the WAR projections made similar claims in 2014 and 2015, the difference this time is that the Red Sox are going into 2016 with a well-balanced roster. They have question marks, sure, but no glaring weaknesses.

Now as for who could give the Red Sox a run for their money, let’s talk about the…

2. Toronto Blue Jays

Key Losses: David Price, Mark Buehrle, Mark Lowe, LaTroy Hawkins, Liam Hendricks, Dioner Navarro

Key Additions: Marco Estrada, Jesse Chavez, J.A. Happ, Josh Thole, Darwin Barney

The Blue Jays are coming off a 93-win season that netted them their first AL East title and trip to the postseason since 1993. Looking ahead to 2016, they’re returning many of the players that made it happen.

That includes virtually everyone in a lineup that was elite both offensively and defensively. Mainly thanks to an all-time awesome trio of sluggers in Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion, the Blue Jays offense blew away the rest of MLB with a .797 OPS. Per Baseball Prospectus, Toronto’s defense was also No. 1 in efficiency.

Things could be even better for Toronto’s lineup in 2016. The Blue Jays will have a full season of Tulowitzki, for one, and a healthy Michael Saunders could be one of the division’s most important depth pieces. That’s why it’s believable that Blue Jays batters could lead the AL in WAR, as FanGraphs projects.

The question, of course, is if the Blue Jays are going to pitch enough.

‘Tis, indeed, a good question. You’ll recall that Toronto’s pitching was barely good enough in support of its offense in the first half of 2015, when the Blue Jays went 45-46 despite all of their heavy hitting. It wasn’t until after Price, Lowe and others arrived in the second half that things finally stabilized.

Alas, Price and Lowe are gone now. So it’s Buehrle, who was at least a source of solid innings. On paper, it looks like Toronto’s pitching has taken a step back.

But it may not be too big of a step. With a 3.31 ERA in 30 major league appearances and an impressive arsenal of pitches, Marcus Stroman may be just the guy to fill Price’s shoes. And though the foursome of Estrada, R.A. Dickey, Happ and Chavez doesn’t look great, it won’t necessarily need to be great.

That’s partially because of what the Blue Jays figure to do on offense and defense and partially because their bullpen still looks strong. Roberto Osuna and Aaron Sanchez have overpowering stuff for the late innings, and Brett Cecil is one of the better lefties around.

The last time we saw the Blue Jays in the regular season, they were going 40-18 after August 1. It’s unlikely that in 2016 they’ll pick up where they left off last year, but they should do enough to prove their rise to relevance was no one-hit wonder.

Meanwhile, in the Bronx…

3. New York Yankees

Key Losses: Stephen Drew, J.R. Murphy, Chris Young, Adam Warren, Justin Wilson

Key Additions: Starlin Castro, Aroldis Chapman, Aaron Hicks

After missing out on October for two straight years, the Bombers made it back to the postseason in 2015 on the strength of an 87-win season. The downside? Their stay in October lasted only one game, losing to Houston in the wild-card game.

If that seems like ancient history by now, it may be because everyone is still on a high from the Yankees pulling off one of the most shocking moves of the offseason. They gave up mere spare parts to acquire Aroldis Chapman, one of the game’s most overpowering relievers.

Granted, the worry now is that Chapman will be suspended for a portion of 2016 as a result of the alleged domestic violence incident that Yahoo Sports reported on during the winter meetings.

But when the flamethrowing lefty is able to suit up, he’s going to combine with Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller to form a stupidly strong late-inning relief trio. They led all MLB relievers in strikeout rate over the last two seasons, so the three of them being in the same bullpen is absurd.

Thing is, though, this may not matter in the grand scheme of things.

As Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs pointed out, it will be hard for the Yankees bullpen to be any better in 2016 than it was in 2015. It was responsible for the Yankees going 66-3 when leading after six and 73-2 when leading after seven. It’ll be nigh impossible to improve on those performances.

As such, the Yankees contending in 2016 will come down to what else they can do. And that’s where there are all sorts of question marks.

With Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner up top and A-Rod, Teixeira, Castro, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran in the middle, the Yankees lineup could be a well-balanced dynamo. But given the age and consistency questions lingering over those names, it could also be the decidedly “meh” unit that it was in the final two months of 2015.

With Tanaka leading the charge followed by the talented arms belonging to Luis Severino, Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda, the Yankees’ rotation could also be a major strength. But there are health and consistency questions here, too, as well as experience concerns regarding Severino. 

This time last year, the general opinion of the Yankees was that they weren’t bad, but they would need much to go right to be good. Looking at them now, it’s easy to have the same feeling. This is a team that looks destined for 85 wins, with large margins for error on either side.

Fortunately, the Yankees may not face much pressure from the…

4. Tampa Bay Rays

Key Losses: Nathan Karns, Asdrubal Cabrera, Joey Butler, Daniel Nava, John Jaso

Key Additions: Brad Miller, Logan Morrison, Danny Farquhar, Hank Conger

The Rays had a share of first place in the AL East as late as June 30 in 2015 but then fell flat on their way to an 80-82 record. And from what they’ve done this winter, their chances of doing better in 2016 seem…mild. At best.

The Rays should at least pitch well in 2016. They finished fourth in the AL in ERA in 2015 and are returning most of the guys who made that happen. Archer pitched even better in 2015 than his 3.23 ERA indicates, and he’s backed by Jake Odorizzi, Drew Smyly, Erasmo Ramirez and a healthy Matt Moore.

The Rays also figure to have a solid bullpen. Brad Boxberger and Jake McGee are two incumbents with swing-and-miss stuff, and Farquhar could give the Rays a third swing-and-miss reliever. 

But while pitching is nice, it will only be good for so much if the Rays’ offense can’t improve on last year’s showing. Even a strong second half couldn’t stop them from finishing 11th in the AL in OPS and 14th in the AL in runs, and no serious upgrades have been made this winter.

Miller has a solid bat, yes, but he’s replacing Cabrera. Morrison is also solid, but not as much as a healthy Jaso. Conger is a good receiver behind the dish, but he’s not much of a hitter. Elsewhere, the Rays have to worry about Logan Forsythe regressing to the mean and Longoria continuing his decline.

All things considered, Jim Bowden of ESPN.com is right about the Rays’ single biggest need being an impact bat. There’s still time for them to find one, but for now it looks like they’re not going to hit enough to ride their strong pitching to the top of the division.

But, hey, at least the Rays look better off than the…

5. Baltimore Orioles

Key Losses: Chris Davis, Wei-Yin Chen, Steve Pearce, Gerardo Parra

Key Additions: Matt Wieters, Darren O’Day, Mark Trumbo

The Orioles were neither bad nor good in 2015. They were perfectly mediocre, going 81-81.

Now FanGraphs projects them as the worst team in the American League. That’s likely a bit harsh, but there is some truth to the notion that the Orioles have taken a sizable step backward.

To even go as far as 81-81 in 2015, the Orioles had to rely on a fairly simple formula: just enough pitching (4.05 ERA) and a lot of home runs (217). This offseason, that formula has been compromised.

Though these two free agents are not technically gone just yet, the O’s rotation is missing Chen and its offense is missing Davis. With a 3.34 ERA in 191.1 innings, Chen was their best pitcher in 2015. Davis was their best hitter, with a .923 OPS and an MLB-high 47 home runs.

Without them, Baltimore’s rotation and offense look noticeably thin. There’s not nearly enough behind Chris Tillman in the former, and things are weak outside Machado and Jones in the latter. With O’Day rejoining Brian Matusz, Brad Brach and Zach Britton, Baltimore’s bullpen looks like the team’s only real strength.

For now, anyway. ESPN.com’s Buster Olney hints that they may be the one team in the AL East that still has plenty of shopping to do:

One can see a situation in which the Orioles re-sign Davis, bring in another starter and perhaps add some outfield depth. If they can do these things, they’ll look a lot better.

But for the time being, well, all of the above is how the division is shaping up with Opening Day just there in the distance. It’s been a busy winter in the AL East, and that should lead to few dull moments when the games finally arrive.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

For most of the last two years, the New York Yankees specialized in acquisitions that were anything but flashy. Many were useful and some were surprisingly good, but none of them screamed, “Look at us!”

Trading for Aroldis Chapman did. That’s a Yankee move.

He’s the type of player you expect them to get, and the over-the-top bullpen of Chapman, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances is exactly what you expect the Yankees to assemble. Hey, did you hear that they had three of the four highest strikeout rates in baseball in 2015?

Did you hear Chapman throws harder than anyone?

Of course you did. You heard no one else has an endgame like the Yankees do now. You heard the Yankees might turn nine-inning games into six-inning games.

Here’s what you also should have heard: The bullpen wasn’t the problem the Yankees needed to fix.

After the Yankees acquired Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds on Dec. 28, WFAN’s Sweeny Murti tweeted the following:

In other words, the Yankees were already really good at closing out games, with guys like Justin Wilson and Adam Warren in front of Miller and Betances. In fact, they were 51-23 in games in which Wilson pitched.

They don’t have Wilson anymore, as they traded him to the Detroit Tigers for two minor league pitchers. They don’t have Warren anymore after trading him to the Chicago Cubs for second baseman Starlin Castro.

So if you want to say Chapman gives the Yankees a deeper bullpen, that’s not exactly true.

That’s not to minimize how good Chapman is. It’s not even to say the Yankees made a mistake in agreeing to the cut-rate deal the Reds offered because of Chapman’s much-publicized domestic-violence issues.

While it’s still not clear how long a suspension Chapman will face, if any, it’s abundantly clear he would have cost a team big prospects if the off-field issues didn’t exist.

Chapman is very good, and he’s going to be very exciting to watch. And he gives the Yankees some of what the Kansas City Royals had when they went to the last two World Series. Deep bullpens with guys who miss bats are in vogue now, and no team has three guys who miss bats like the Yankee trio does.

In fact, pitchers like that are seen to have so much value that some rival scouts still think of the Chapman acquisition as one that will set up the Yankees to trade Miller later this winter or some time next summer.

“[Yankees general manager Brian] Cashman is going to be holding the joker that everyone else will want,” one scout said.

Cashman says his intent is to keep Chapman, Miller and Betances, and I tend to believe he will. He seems to believe the big bullpen will give him a team that can end the Yankees’ three-year drought without a postseason win.

I’m not so sure.

The Yankees could win if the starting rotation can hold up. Having Chapman might allow manager Joe Girardi to avoid wearing out Miller and Betances, but only if the starters hold up at least as well as they did last summer. The Yankees were 21st in starters innings in 2015, and that was with CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi and Masahiro Tanaka holding up for a combined 107 starts (and with Warren starting 17 times).

There’s reason for concern with every one of those starters for 2016, and the main hope for improvement is that 21-year-old Luis Severino can pitch as well in his first full season as he did in his 11-start rookie cameo.

But let’s say the rotation holds up. Let’s say Chapman, Miller and Betances make the Yankees so invincible when they get a lead after six innings that they don’t even lose the three games they lost that way last year.

Fine, but tell me Alex Rodriguez is going to provide what he did in 2015, now that he’s going to start a season at 40 and finish it at 41. For all Cashman’s efforts to make the Yankee roster younger, he’s still counting on a lineup in which all the key guys are on the wrong side of 30.

His unflashy additions have often worked out, some (Didi Gregorius) better than others (Chase Headley, Stephen Drew). Perhaps the unflashy moves from this winter (Castro, outfielder Aaron Hicks) will prove to be good ones.

If not, Chapman will be for the Yankees just what he was for the Reds: fun to watch, but home in October.

Danny Knobler covers Major League Baseball as a national columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow Danny on Twitter and talk baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Former MLB third baseman Frank Malzone, who made six All-Star teams with the Boston Red Sox, died Tuesday. He was 85.

The Red Sox confirmed Malzone’s death on their Twitter feed.    

“We mourn the loss of a man we all came to know as ‘Malzie,’ who was venerated by Red Sox fans not only for his great glove at third base but for his blue-collar dedication to his craft,” said Red Sox chairman Tom Werner, per the Boston Globe.

Malzone played for Boston from 1955-1965 and was an instant contributor after becoming a full-time member of the big league roster in 1957. He made the All-Star team and was second in Rookie of the Year voting his first full campaign, marking his first of four straight appearances in the Midsummer Classic.

A solid two-way player, Malzone also won Gold Gloves in each of his first three years. He enjoyed his best offensive season in 1962, hitting 21 home runs and driving in 95 runs. Because Malzone was a bit of a late bloomer—he was 27 during his rookie season—his reign near the top of the sport did not last long.

After returning to All-Star form in 1963 and 1964, Malzone’s performance quickly dipped in his final two MLB seasons. He left the Red Sox in 1966 for a stint with the California Angels, playing only 82 games before retiring after the season.

Overall, Malzone finished with 133 home runs, 728 RBI and a .274/.315/.399 slash line. He returned to the Red Sox organization following his playing career, serving as a scout and working in player development for decades.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

What? Did you think the New York Yankees were going to steer clear of star players all winter?

Guess again, friend. The Yankees have gone and acquired a rather big star. In so doing, they have set their immediate future up for quite a bit of intrigue.

As Jack Curry of the YES Network was first to report, the Yankees struck a deal with the Cincinnati Reds on Monday to acquire flame-throwing relief ace Aroldis Chapman. Per the Yankees’ Twitter, here’s the full deal:

Before this, the biggest move the Yankees had made this winter was a roll-of-the-dice trade on the ever-unpredictable Starlin Castro. Suffice it to say, this trade is a bit bigger than that one.

It is, though, also something of a dice roll in its own right.

The elephant in the room here is the alleged domestic violence incident that Chapman was involved in back in October. As Jeff Passan and Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports reported, the alleged details involve Chapman choking his girlfriend and firing a gun in anger. MLB‘s investigation into the matter could still lead to a suspension for the 27-year-old left-hander.

That and the bad public relations surrounding the situation were enough to scare the Los Angeles Dodgers away from an agreed-upon trade with the Reds. It was also apparently enough to lower Chapman’s trade value.

But for the Yankees, this is obviously the bright spot. The Yankees can expect to face criticism—and not unwarranted criticism, mind you—for welcoming Chapman with open arms while he’s tied to such a hot-button controversy, but it’s frankly hard to say they’re making a mistake.

MLB.com’s rankings state that the Yankees are not giving up any of their top five prospects for Chapman, which makes the package they’re paying look laughable relative to those paid for fellow relief aces Ken Giles and Craig Kimbrel this winter. And though we don’t know what the Dodgers were going to trade for Chapman, Craig Edwards of FanGraphs is right to speculate it wouldn’t have been this mediocre.

If Chapman isn’t suspended, the Yankees will have paid a small price for a full season of his services. If he is suspended, they could actually come out even more ahead in the long run. A small suspension will only sideline him for a portion of 2016. As Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports pointed out, a longer suspension could delay Chapman’s free agency until after 2017.

In other words: This is a questionable PR move for the Yankees but also a strong baseball trade. The only unknown now is where they go from here, and the two possible directions they can go in are both appealing.

Door No. 1 involves the Yankees simply adding Chapman to what they already have in their bullpen and going from there. At this, please try to contain your excitement. 

What the Yankees already had in their bullpen, of course, was right-hander Dellin Betances and left-hander Andrew Miller. They combined for a 1.74 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 145.2 innings in 2015, making them the most dominant duo of relievers in the sport.

And now along comes Chapman. Using a steady stream of triple-digit fastballs and wipeout sliders, all he’s done since becoming a full-time closer in 2012 is post a 1.90 ERA in 255 appearances, striking out a staggering 16.1 batters per nine innings along the way. 

With Chapman in the same bullpen as Betances and Miller, whether the Yankees’ bullpen now boasts the best trio of relievers in baseball history is a fair question to ask. At the least, this note from MLB.com’s Andrew Simon makes it clear that the Yankees have the modern game’s three most overpowering relievers all under one roof:

This is where it’s hard not to think of the Kansas City Royals and all the success they’ve enjoyed with a three-headed bullpen monster over the last two seasons. And though the Yankees’ roster isn’t as complete or well-balanced as the Royals’, there’s no question they’re going to be able to shorten games as well as the Royals have been able to.

According to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, that’s the whole idea for now. But as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported, Cashman is also open to Door No. 2:

To anyone who’s been paying close attention to the winter rumor mill, the idea of the Yankees trading Miller shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Of all the ways the Yankees could shed some payroll, trading Miller and the $27 million remaining over the three years left on his contract is arguably the only one within reach. He’s also one of the only established players they have who could bring back something of value in a trade.

For example, a starting pitcher. Joel Sherman of the New York Post has reported that trading Miller for a starter has been on the club’s mind, and that makes sense. The Yankees’ rotation has talent, but depth is needed to account for the question marks hanging over Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi and CC Sabathia.

But then, it’s not a given that the Yankees would target a starting pitcher in a trade involving Miller. According to Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York, Cashman believes his rotation is “full.” One therefore wonders if he’d only move Miller to fill another need, such as an outfield upgrade.

Wherever Cashman decides to go from here, it’ll be hard for him to make his trade for Chapman look like a bad baseball move. It may be a questionable move from a PR perspective, but the Yankees are either getting a truly epic bullpen or a more complete team out of it.

If you were waiting for the Yankees to do something a little bolder this winter, well, there you go.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

At one point, closer Aroldis Chapman appeared destined for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Investigations into an alleged domestic violence incident, however, squashed those plans and forced the Cincinnati Reds to pivot.

Now, Chapman is headed to the New York Yankees in a trade first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Jack Curry of YES Network reported the Reds will get four minor leaguers in exchange for Chapman, but it won’t be any of Greg Bird, Aaron Judge, Jorge Mateo and Gary Sanchez.

Rosenthal reported the Marlins were also after Chapman, but that the Reds preferred the Yankees’ offer.

Chapman, a four-time All-Star, was previously viewed as one of the most attractive trade chips on the market. His alleged legal troubles, however, made him a harder sell to prospective buyers. 

As Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown and Jeff Passan reported on Dec. 7, “Chapman allegedly fired eight gunshots in the garage of his Miami-area home following an October argument with his girlfriend in which she told police he ‘choked’ her and pushed her against a wall.” According to their report, “word of the incident held up the [Dodgers] deal.”

Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi noted not all teams were dissuaded from dealing for Chapman despite the looming threat of a possible suspension. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the Yankees “do anticipate that Chapman will deal with some kind of suspension.”

Despite a potential ban, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told reporters he feels the team has “done [its] due diligence to the best of [its] abilities.”

If Chapman is suspended, that time won’t count toward his MLB service, per Rosenthal and Morosi. As a result, the acquiring party could gain an extra year of team control out of the deal. At present, Chapman is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017, per Spotrac.

Parting with Chapman has always made sense for the Reds. Cincinnati is ready to engage in a rebuild, and the team doesn’t need a high-quality closer if it knows losses are likely in the near future. 

“We’re in a tough division,” Walt Jocketty, the Reds’ president of baseball operations, said in November, according to Rosenthal. “We’ve got to be realistic about it.”

Chapman has topped 30 saves in each of the last four seasons. During the 2015 campaign, Chapman finished with the eighth-most saves (33) in the National League. Among closers who tallied at least 20 saves in the Senior Circuit last season, Chapman was by far the most prolific from a strikeout standpoint. 

In 65 games, Chapman whiffed 116 batters to finish with a staggering rate of 15.7 strikeouts per nine innings, according to Baseball-Reference.com.

The 27-year-old boasts a devastating fastball-slider combination, and he is one of the most dominant bullpen arms in baseball.

Dealing for him at this stage of his career carries risk, however. Not only is Chapman facing the likelihood of discipline from the league, but he’ll soon be a free agent. And once he hits the open market, he’ll command gobs of cash. 

That said, Chapman’s talent is unique enough to splurge on—even if he is just a short-term rental. He figures to help a team that ranked 17th in ERA this past season at 4.05.

Although Andrew Miller did well for New York last year in converting 36 of his 38 save opportunities in 2015, he has been the subject of trade rumors. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported earlier in December that the Dodgers and Houston Astros were interested in him. It will be interesting to see what Miller’s future holds with Chapman’s arrival.

Commendable as Miller’s efforts have been, the Yankees haven’t had a closer of Chapman’s ability since the legendary Mariano Rivera. It’s quite a standard to live up to, but Chapman certainly has the physical tools to go down in New York lore.

But that’s a bold assumption to make, considering he could be out of the Big Apple after only one year. Chapman must put his recent off-field issues behind him and prove himself promptly to secure a future with baseball’s winningest franchise.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com