Yankees Aroldis Chapman Trade Talks Picking Up Steam

All signs now point to the New York Yankees trading Aroldis Chapman at the deadline, with discussions about the closer beginning in earnest this week.

While it may be too early to declare the New York Yankees full blown sellers at the August 1st trade deadline, it appears that at least one of their major veteran chips will be dealt in the next two weeks.

ESPN’s Buster Olney recently tweeted that the Yankees are “going full bore in shaping possible deals” according to rival executives around the league. He specifically names three clubs currently involved in the negotiations: the Cleveland Indians, Washington Nationals, and Texas Rangers. All of these names have been previously connected to Chapman for a while, so there’s nothing shocking there.

The fact that these talks “started weeks ago” raises the possibility that a trade could take place sooner than expected. If the Yankees decide to sell now, they can probably land a larger return given the lack of other clubs selling at this point. If they wait, other teams could drop further out of the race and elect to tear it down. There’s also always the risk that Chapman gets hurt before the Yankees make their move.

The Nationals first made their interest known back in June when sources with the team told MLB.com’s Bill Ladson that they were hoping Chapman and Andrew Miller were made available in the coming weeks, because adding an elite reliever was Washington’s number one priority at the deadline.

On Sunday, Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post reported that the Yankees were scouting the Nats’ Triple-A affiliate and planned to move on to looking at the big club this week. Top arms Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, and A.J. Cole were all with Syracuse over the weekend. It’s not clear Washington would deal that caliber of pitcher for a rental reliever, but it’s possible the Yankees could expand the deal to include other assets like Miller, Brett Gardner, or Carlos Beltran.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports confirmed Tuesday that Aroldis Chapman is the “Nationals’ most likely target,” citing his relationship with manager Dusty Baker that dates back to their time together on the Reds. Rosenthal also mentions that the cost to acquire Miller might be too high for Washington.

Cleveland is also on the lookout for a top lefthanded reliever, but Rosenthal believes their top target is Andrew Miller because of the extra years of control. The Indians have plenty of young talent to meet the Yankees asking price on Miller, but could turn to Chapman as a cheaper alternative at some point. Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports that the Yankees are also scouting Cleveland’s Triple-A squad.

With one of the worst bullpens in the game in the first half, the Rangers have a clear need for Chapman or Miller. At the moment, they appear to be more focused on acquiring one of the Rays’ available starting pitchers, but Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News recently noted that Texas’ backup plan could be one of the Yankees’ starters.

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Grant names Nathan Eovaldi, Ivan Nova, and CC Sabathia as pitchers the Rangers have been looking at. Could a package centered around Chapman and Eovaldi land a budding superstar like Joey Gallo or Jurickson Profar? Those are the type of high-end talents the Yankees need to pursue in the next two weeks.