Arizona Diamondbacks in discussions with Reds about Aroldis Chapman
The Arizona Diamondbacks are discussing flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman with the Cincinnati Reds, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. Passan cautions that due to the high asking price on Chapman the talks could be precautionary. However, he also offers that there “may be something there.”
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Chapman is not the first big name the D’Backs have checked in on this week, as reports yesterday had them involved in talks for Phillies ace Cole Hamels. While Arizona is obviously not interested in rentals for this season, they appear to be capitalizing on the trade market for controllable stars.
Current D’Backs closer Brad Ziegler is a trade candidate himself, though the club will likely elect to hang onto him in 2016 via $5.5-million club option if they don’t elect to trade him instead. The 35-year-old has an outstanding 1.21 ERA in 44.2 innings and has allowed just six earned runs all season. Should Chapman come to Arizona, however, Ziegler would more than likely assume eighth inning responsibilities if he’s still on the club.
If Arizona really is set on looking for controllable talent at this year’s deadline, they could ultimately try and work something out with the Padres. San Diego is reportedly trying to ditch several of their big contracts, with the likes of James Shields, Craig Kimbrel, Jedd Gyorko, Joaquin Benoit and even Brandon Maurer mentioned as potential trade candidates with control through at least 2016. None of those players have directly been linked to the D’Backs, but it certainly seems like a fit on paper.
Next: San Francisco Giants Interested In Aroldis Chapman
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