The Reality of Aroldis Chapman

As of yesterday afternoon, both Aroldis Chapman and Kenley Jansen had been courted by the Yankees. Both had received offers. And both those offers were believed to exceed the four-year and $62 million deal that had just rendered Mark Melancon the most well-compensated relief pitcher in history.

Brian Cashman said his preference was for Chapman because, among other reasons, Chapman wouldn’t cost a draft pick, and the closer had pitched well in New York. Cashman told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch that he “[didn’t] believe that Jansen would have any issues pitching in New York either, but it’s nice to have that box checked, too.” You have to figure Champan’s 100 mph fastball certainly helped matters.

Cashman got his wish. Chapman is a Yankee once again, to the tune of five years and $86 million. There are reasons the deal makes sense from a baseball point of view. It’s also possible that the spectacle of Chapman’s velocity will have some marketing value. Hal Steinbrenner himself has reportedly stated that he liked the buzz Chapman created at the stadium. By those criteria, it’s possible that they choose wisely, and I’ll address those points in a moment.

First, a personal note. As a writer, and as a human being, and as someone who grew up with a Yankees cap on my head, I have certain opinions on which players I’d like to see in New York. I was not a fan of the initial acquisition of Chapman, and I do not relish the fact he is now returning to the Bronx. I cannot reconcile his on-the-field dominance with the negative events of his private life.

It’s an offense for which he was punished, and one for which he’s been tried many times in the court of public opinion. But the court of public opinion isn’t governed by the laws of jurisprudence. Those of us who watch the game are permitted to retain lingering opinions and judgments. Fans have trepidations about players for many reasons, from steroid usage to old grudges born from walk-off home runs.

Domestic violence is different than those other offenses, however. It’s not the product of a dubious decision one has made to gain a competitive advantage, but rather the expression of something fundamentally damaged and upsetting inside a person.

And this is where my own personal feelings become relevant on a larger scale. Presumably, there are many Yankees fans who will not be pleased with Chapman’s return. There are many Yankees fans, many of them women, who will feel disregarded and disgusted, even if they’re not surprised.

So his reacquisition will leave a bad taste in the mouths of many. Yet to speak of this as if it is only the Yankees up to such things is disingenuous. The Cubs traded for Chapman at midseason to help their postseason push. There were other teams who sought his services, including the Dodgers, who decided not to trade for him this time last year after learning of the incident. The Mets put their fans through something similar to this when they brought Jose Reyes back, after he was also suspended under the league’s new domestic-violence policy. Now we’re about to find out how the Mets are going to handle a possible suspension of Jeurys Familia.

At some point, the internal calculus performed by teams revealed that, whatever public relations and moral qualms might arise from the acquisition of these players, they’re outweighed by the on-field benefits. And, to this point, there’s no evidence to say they’re wrong. That is a fact we as fans — and as human beings — must address on our own. It is not a new phenomenon, and it is not a pleasant one. According to the Yankees, Aroldis Chapman makes the most business sense for the Yankees — and the Yankees have appeared to prioritize business sense.

But let’s get to other side of that internal calculus — namely, the Yankees’ argument for choosing Chapman over Jansen. And how they arrived at the decision to make him the highest-paid reliever ever.

We’ll start here: the difference in overall performance — in a vacuum — between Chapman and Jansen isn’t significant. Steamer projects 1.5 WAR for Jansen in 2017 and 1.6 for Chapman. That’s a negligible difference — one that certainly falls within the margin of error of WAR’s precision. There are aesthetic differences on the radar gun, the hand with which they launch the ball in the general direction of home plate and the preferred pitch with which they make batters look ridiculous. One of them would come with a past suspension for domestic violence, as well as past success in a Yankees uniform. One of them would comes with draft-pick compensation attached. The Yankees would currently stand to lose the 16th-overall pick next summer.

Retaining that draft pick makes sense for the Yankees. Its value is likely to increase incrementally as teams ahead of the Yankees sign free agents who received qualifying offers and thus forfeit their first-rounders — as the Rockies did with Ian Desmond. Not only that, but there’s some question about how aggressively the Yankees should pursue a win-now strategy. The 2017 season looks to represent a wait-and-see year for New York, given that they’ll be fielding a team largely composed of youngsters and rookies getting their first extended big-league action. Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, Clint Frazier, Tyler Austin, James Kaprielian, Chad Green and maybe Chance Adams are all going to see varying levels of time. The middle of the order is currently built around Sanchez, Bird, Matt Holliday and perhaps Starlin Castro.

In light of their youth — and given that the Red Sox just turned themselves into a juggernaut — the Yankees are going to be looking at a Wild Card spot, at best. These young players are going to need time to stumble and fall, and the team will need time to assess which of these men figure into the franchise’s long-term plans.

In other words: the New York Yankees are still rebuilding, so there’s no sense in punting a draft pick just yet. If this were the 2018 offseason and the Yankees were confident that they were ready to party, that’d be one thing. But Cashman has another chance to grab some first-round talent before the Yankees start going for it, and that’s an opportunity he shouldn’t pass up.

On the other hand, this deal isn’t above criticism strictly in terms of wins and losses, either. The Yankees just threw nearly $90 million at a relief pitcher. Chapman can opt out after the first three years of the five-year deal, and he’ll have a full no-trade clause for those three years. He’s in unknown territory in terms of what his aging curve may look like. How does a fastball like his hold up past 30? We’re going to find out. If he can still throw gas for strikes, Chapman may opt out. If he can’t, the Yankees are going to be saddled with a lot of money for someone who isn’t going to be in the business of throwing very many innings.

In addition, the team is probably going to be pretty good again in three years. They’ll have ironed out the kinks with their many premium prospects, and they may very well have Bryce Harper, too. If Chapman is still good, he may be headed out the door right when things are really kicking into gear, unless he feels especially motivated to stay in New York. There’s an awful lot of risk in this contract, and it was given out by a team that’s not currently operating in win-now mode.

This brings us back to Steinbrenner’s sentiment. In this sense, Hal truly is his father’s son. He wanted the flashy player who’ll put fans in seats and jerseys on backs, and he got his man. He wanted a player who can create buzz in a stadium, as if a small army of top prospects weren’t going to do that. Chapman is a Yankee to close ballgames, but he’s also a Yankee to sell tickets and merchandise. Kenley Jansen doesn’t have Chapman’s gaudy fastball. He doesn’t have the name recognition or the pre-established favor of the Bronx diehards. Chapman is a perfect storm for Steinbrenner.

But if Steinbrenner is looking to appeal to his fans, he’ll also have to understand that he’s alienating some of them at the same time. Consider: on October 6, the Yankees tweeted out a brief PSA featuring Joe Girardi. Its message was in support of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Tonight Yankee Stadium will go purple because we’re #NotAFan of domestic violence. Wear & share purple to help raise awareness #NYCGoPurple pic.twitter.com/cByY4LbqIL

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 6, 2016

That’s the sort of thing teams do, of course. As a fan, you appreciate the sentiment, even while recognizing that it’s also serving as a public-relations maneuver. That said, it’s harder to appreciate and believe the sentiment when, two months later, the club has made Aroldis Chapman a member of their team for a second time. We know why they did. We know what they’re fans of: winning and profiting. From that standpoint, this is a pretty good deal for the Yankees. Whether it was a good deal from a the standpoint of decency is another matter.