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Arizona Diamondbacks Forced to Wait for Aroldis Chapman

By Josh Sippie

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The Cuban Missle Crisis, Aroldis Chapman is one of the most valuable closers in the game of baseball, and the Cincinnati Reds have turned into full-bore sellers as they have already dished their prized ace Johnny Cueto as well as Mike Leake.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks have submitted an offer for Chapman and look to extend his contract beyond the 2016 season, as Jon Heyman points out. However, the Diamondbacks will have to fend off even the smallest bit of interest from the wheeling, dealing Houston Astros as well as the Yankees and Giants.

Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Diamondbacks are going to use their new TV contract to unleash massive cash on anything and everything they need:

There are few who do it better than Aroldis Chapman, who overcame significant control issues in 2011 to become one of the most dominant and feared pitchers around. He consistently notches enormous strikeout numbers, surpassing 100 every single year, and while it is becoming more and more frequent these days, being able to throw 101 miles per hour is still a valuable commodity.

It is no wonder why the Diamondbacks are starting with Chapman with a future spending spree in mind.

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However, the Reds are understandably a little hesitant to unload their prized closer, as the price has to be right. As such, despite the Diamondbacks making an offer yesterday, they have been force to wait as the Reds decide whether or not dishing Chapman is what is best for them.

The D-backs currently have Brad Ziegler as their closer and he has been a pretty solid closer at that, but at 35 years of age, they are clearly viewing Chapman as the closer for their future (and present, should they land him now). Ziegler has commandeered a solid 1.21 ERA but he is not the strikeout kingpin that Chapman is. He could very easily be moved into a set-up role to make room for Chapman, giving the Diamondbacks an incredibly solid one-two punch for the eighth and ninth innings when the game is on the line.

Aroldis Chapman is not going to be cheap, and the D-backs will have to give up some prized pieces, but for a deal that is going to impact your team for the long run, it is worth the little risk involved.

Next: Craig Kimbrel to Houston?

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