The New York Yankees made a bold trade Monday, acquiring flame-throwing lefty reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for four minor leaguers and now those same Yankees should be hoping for something even bolder.
As strange as it sounds, they should be hoping that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred comes down hard on Chapman and he gets a lengthy suspension for domestic violence. Yes, the Yankees should hope that the player they just acquired, the reliever with the fastest fastball in the league, will miss a significant portion of the 2016 season. Forty games, in fact.
Chapman, as you may recall, is under investigation by the league following an alleged Oct. 30 incident at his Florida home in which he's accused of choking his girlfriend and pushing her against a wall. The incident was first reported by Yahoo Sports. Chapman admitted to police that he fired eight rounds from his gun into his garage in the aftermath, but was not charged with a crime nor arrested.
MLB's investigation is different than law enforcement's, and we aren't sure what to expect yet. MLB put in a place a new domestic violence policy in August. The new policy gives Manfred the ultimate power to hand down whatever punishment he deems appropriate. Chapman is the third player to be investigated under MLB's new protocols (in addition to Jose Reyes and Yasiel Puig), but no punishments have been made yet, so predicting what the commish might have in store for Chapman is impossible.
There are two reasons the Yankees should hope the league doesn't go easy on Chapman, the second having more to do with baseball than the first:
1. It's better PR if Chapman doesn't skate free. Let's face it, even though these current Yankees aren't exactly the Yankees of yesteryear, they're still looked at as the "Evil Empire" of baseball. Trading for the offseason's biggest villain, even if it makes baseball sense, is still going to make some people compare them to Dallas Cowboys signing Greg Hardy. Strictly from a we're-decent-people standpoint, they should want Chapman to be punished appropriately if MLB's investigation finds that he deserves it. Domestic violence isn't OK, no matter how famous you are or how fast you can throw a baseball. The Yankees already employ one of the MLB's most-hated players in Alex Rodriguez and they're probably not trying to form the Legion of Doom in the Bronx.
2. They could keep him another year. If we're strictly talking baseball — ignoring the altruistic arguments and just looking at on-the-field importance — this is the most important part. A lengthy suspension could mean that Chapman's free agency gets pushed back a season. He's due to become a free agent after the 2016 season, which made him such a worthwhile trade chip for the Reds before the domestic-violence investigation hit the news. But MLB free agency is based on service time and if Chapman is suspended long enough, he might not reach the six years of major-league service time needed for free agency.
Jon Morosi of Fox Sports wrote about this idea earlier this month, saying the uncertain service time stoppage is why some teams were still interested in Chapman. As it stands, Chapman has five years and 34 days of major-league service time. He needs 138 more days on an active roster this season to reach free agency. If Chapman doesn't, then the Yankees would keep him, under salary arbitration, for 2017. That makes the trade much more appealing from a baseball perspective.
Keep in mind, we're talking about days not games when calculating service time. Off days count. The Yankees' season is 182 days long, meaning that if Chapman is suspended 45 days or more, his free agency is delayed. Starting from opening day and counting forward 45 days to May 18, that would be 40 games.
The Yankees are a team that has the luxury of starting next season with two elite relievers, Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances, in their bullpen (barring a trade, of course). So losing Chapman for 40 games wouldn't be the blow that it might be to, say, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Especially if the Yanks are getting Chapman for another season afterward.
There have been rumors all winter that the Yankees would trade Miller if the return is right, but now having Chapman allows them another possibility. They can keep Miller and see how the Chapman saga plays out. If Chapman misses 40 or more games and the Yankees see a viable trade market, they can trade Miller this summer, once Chapman returns and when teams eyeing the playoffs could be even hungrier for relief pitching. That's just one scenario, though. This could go a number of ways for the Yankees. And no matter what else happens, two years of Chapman is good for baseball in the Bronx.
Don't expect the Yankees to run around announcing to the world that they're hoping Chapman gets a 40-game suspension, but it would certainly be in their best interest if it happens.
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