UPDATE (Dec. 8, 11:25 a.m. PT): Although the Cincinnati Reds indicated they are holding off on trading closer Aroldis Chapman, Major League Baseball reportedly will permit the Los Angeles Dodgers and Reds to push forward with the deal if they wished.
One challenge for the Dodgers in acquiring Chapman amid the report of his involvement in an alleged domestic violence incident is public backlash.
Another concern is how pairing Chapman with Kenley Jansen at the back of the bullpen would sit with the Dodgers’ incumbent closer.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Dodgers are in the process of determining which direction to head in:
#Dodgers meeting to decide what to do on Chapman after scouring legal reports: pivot to something else or wait and see how this resolves
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 8, 2015
#Dodgers loved idea of teaming Jansen-Chapman late, but not sure now if it is right to bring on Chapman and/or wait for resolution (cont)
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 8, 2015
With chance will lose out on other possibilities while they wait. But as of now, they have not yet quashed deal as it stood b4 revelations
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 8, 2015
The Los Angeles Dodgers quickly dominated headlines on the first day of Major League Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings by agreeing to trade for Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman.
Cincinnati was to receive two prospects in exchange for the dominant closer, who is in line to hit free agency after the 2016 season.
However, as the day progressed, questions and uncertainty began to cloud the reported trade. By Monday night, the deal had seemingly come unraveled.
Chapman was part of an alleged domestic violence incident at his home on Oct. 30 and will be investigated under MLB’s new domestic violence policy.
While it was initially speculated the dispute and MLB’s investigation put the trade on hold, the clubs are free to proceed as they wish, according to ESPN:
A source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that the MLB investigation is not holding up the trade and that it’s up to the teams as to how they want to proceed. The Dodgers are not sure what direction they’ll take.
That being said, Reds president of baseball operations Walt Jocketty informed clubs Cincinnati is putting Chapman trade talks on hold for the foreseeable future:
“The trade is still possible,” Jocketty told reporters. “We’ve talked to several clubs. I’ve notified them all [Monday] that we will step back for a couple of weeks or whatever it takes. They were fine. This actually came up the last 24 hours. That’s not what held up the trade. We just weren’t able to complete it as fast as we wanted to.”
Chapman converted 33 saves last season, which was his fourth consecutive season with at least that many. He’s also made the National League All-Star team every year over the same stretch.
