Yankees splurge for Aroldis Chapman in deal that carries real risk
Channel: SPORTS NEWS
Date: 2016-12-08

Yankees splurge for Aroldis Chapman in deal that carries real risk
Md.—The record for the biggest free-agent contract ever handed out to a reliever was set on the first full day of this year’s Winter Meetings. It lasted all of 48 hours.

On Wednesday night, as MLB’s week-long expo and media gathering wound down, the Yankees sent everyone home with a bombshell contract for closer Aroldis Chapman, the best reliever on the market: five years and $86 million, according to Fox Sports’s Ken Rosenthal. That pact shatters the industry record for a reliever set just two days earlier by new Giants closer Mark Melancon, whose four-year, $62 million deal had itself topped Jonathan Papelbon’s four-year, $50 million contract back in 2011 as the new No. 1. New York’s new deal for Chapman—who was the team’s closer for the first half of 2016 after being acquired last December from Cincinnati—reflects the new, borderline ludicrous value that top-flight relievers now hold. And while Chapman is and should continue to be one of the most dominant relievers in the game, the Yankees are taking a real risk in years and dollars with this deal.