Aroldis Chapman, the fastest pitcher in the Major League Baseball today, has been acquired by the New York Yankees after a successful trade with the Cincinnati Reds. In return, the Reds are getting infielders Tony Renda and Eric Jagielo as well as right-handers Rookie Davis and Caleb Cotham. The Yankees themselves broke the trade news on Dec. 28, Monday.
Left-handed Chapman is among the hardest throwers in the history of baseball, and this has earned himself the reputation as the best frontline closer. The 27-year old pitcher has pitched in the past season a figure of 1.63 ERA as well as 1.94 FIP, with 116 noted strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings.
For his baseball career, Chapman holds a 2.17 ERA and 3.52 K/BB over the parts of his six big-league seasons. In such span, he was able to struck out 42.9 percent of rival hitters, and the rival hitters have batted only .154 against Chapman, ESPN reported.
Chapman is a third-year eligible in terms of arbitration for 2016, which will definitely get a considerable increase over his salary worth $8.05 million for 2015. At present, he is planning for free agency after the next season. But if he gets suspended for a total of 46 games and more, his free agency will be pushed back for a year.
Meantime, the Reds are getting the Yankees' first-rounder Jagielo who batted .266/.356/.469 over parts of the three minor league seasons. Jagielo made it to the Double-A level this year. The National's second-rounder Renda has batted .285/.360/.366 and with 87 steals in his four seasons.
Cotham, 27, was able to reach the majors during the last season with 9 2/3 innings made for the Yankees and pitched a 3.94 ERA with 2.56 K/BB ratio. Finally, there is Davis, who pitched a 3.90 ERA with 3.52 K/BB in the 352 2/3 innings over four years. Out of the 72 games, Davis has made 63 starts.
Aroldis Chapman is officially going to the New York Yankees, CBS Sports reports.