Heyman: Yankees Haven’t Shut the Door on Extending Aroldis Chapman

With all the pre-trade deadline scenarios sending Aroldis Chapman to other teams, wouldn’t it be quite the unforeseen twist if the Yankees extended their closer instead?

The New York Yankees have lugged a sub-mediocre record throughout most of the season, and their unsatisfactory play has stirred up aggrieved “sell, sell, sell!” chants from its fan base.

We live in funny, parity-filled times these days.

Since a sell-off remains a lingering card in GM Brian Cashman’s deck, rumors have been rampant surrounding the organization’s coveted Major-League trade chips: Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Carlos Beltran.

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As far as the bullpen goes, the endgame is premier talent collected into a once-in-a-lifetime 1-2-3 punch. Unfortunately, when a team is continually smothered under the elusive .500 mark, the ‘pen can only contribute so much toward a playoff push.

If a fire sale were to go down in the Bronx, at least one reliever seems destined to don a new uniform. Arguably, Chapman would make the most sense given the fact the left-hander is a rental set to become a free agent at year’s end — with a wallet salivating at the thought of a bidding war.

But rather than trade away their closer, the Yankees may be willing to throw millions at Chapman to keep from opposing his 103-mph heat.

Here’s what Jon Heyman wrote about the idea:

"“The big question is whether the Yankees consider trading Chapman, Miller or even Dellin Betances … Signing Chapman to an extension hasn’t been ruled out, either. He has said he likes New York.” – Heyman"

Well there’s a concept contrary to mainstream chatter.

I’d have to think a Chapman extension would stamp Miller’s ticket out of town. The Yankees adore their 6’8″ homegrown Betances, so don’t bet on him being the odd man out. Miller is under team control until the end of 2018, and to be straight-forward, the lefty has outperformed both Chapman and Betances to the point that his trade value is at an all-time high.

The math is quite simple, really: reasonable salary + two-plus years team control + shutdown closer = franchise-altering return.

With all this being simple speculation, Chapman still seems the most likely to be traded. His acquisition made for a catchy winter headline, but bringing Chapman into the fold was overkill to a bullpen that already didn’t have significant room for improvement.

Should the Yankees be in the distant background of the playoff picture, Cashman would be wise to capitalize on Chapman by flipping him for future assets instead of picking up the compensational draft pick.