First of all, I don't have a problem with the Yankees getting Chapman. Yea they bought low on a guy who's value has diminished because of the potential domestic violence suspension looming over his head, but it isn't Brian Cashman's fault that Aroldis Chapman is available. Should Cashman just sit on his hands while the Red Sox or Blue Jays swoop in and acquire him for cents on the dollar? Is it on Brian Cashman to investigate the case and stand up against domestic violence when the criminal justice system and MLB won't? Sure it's going to be more difficult to root for a guy like Chapman than it will be for guys like Dellin and Andrew Miller but I'm at a point in my life where I'm ready to accept that not all professional athletes are glorified souls.
As for the acquisition itself, it probably isn't a stretch to say this is the most obnoxious medley of talent ever assembled within a major league relief unit. It looks more like a roster you'd put together in Dynasty Mode playing MLB The Show. Arguably the three best relievers in all of baseball pitching back-to-back-to-back. But an embarrassment of riches? Not necessarily. There are plenty of teams in baseball that can get by without having a 7th inning guy who averages 14 Ks per 9. But the Yankees get a starting pitcher past the 6th inning just about as often at they manufacture a run against Dallas Kuechel. With a rotation of question marks, a lineup of bloated contracts and no real solution in sight the best way to make the 2016 Yankees better than the 2015 Yankees is to bolster the bullpen even further and give them an advantage in the late innings that no other team has. That's modern day baseball. Six, maybe seven innings from your starter and then your relievers hold the game in their hands, even more so in the postseason. You absolutely cannot win anymore without a lights out guy at the backend. You know that feeling when the other team's big guy goes to the mound in the ninth and you know you have no shot? Imagine that feeling with nine outs to play with.
I'll admit at first I was disappointed when I heard that Eric Jagielo was in the deal. He wasn't on the major league radar but he was a late first round pick two years ago out of Notre Dame and still has a lot of potential in his bat. He was hitting .284/.347/.495 in Trenton this season before he messed up his knee and missed the rest of the year. His problem is he doesn't have a position. He made nine errors in 39 games at third base in 2015 and scouts say he is an absolute butcher, perhaps even too much so to plug in at first (not that it would've mattered with Greg Bird slated to live there for the next fifteen years). The second biggest piece, RHP Rookie Davis hadn't moved the needle much since his 14th round selection out of high school in the 2011 draft but he had just started to generate a little fanfare this past season with an impressive showing in A+ Tampa. He registered a 3.70 ERA with a 9.7 K/9 and a 1.7 BB/9 but didn't fare so well upon being promoted to Trenton (4.32 and a 6.5 K/9). He's low-mid 90's on the gun and doesn't have great secondary pitches so he projects more as a 3-5 starter/bullpen arm. The last two prospects were essentially throw-ins (light-hitting infielder Tony Renda and Caleb Cotham). You can argue the Yankee pitching pipeline took a hit with this deal by losing Davis but they just added two young arms a couple weeks ago by trading Justin Wilson.
To a man, the bottom line is this is still a bargain. Chapman's asking price over the summer was probably something like Jorge Mateo AND these four guys. Craig Kimbrel's as well. This winter the Yankees have managed to improve their current 25-man roster while holding onto their most coveted blue-chippers. Over the last few years they've tried very carefully to toe the line between getting younger and competing for a championship and now they're sort of right in the middle. As presently constituted I'd say they're among the top 4-5 teams in the American League. After the season plays out, who knows?
