Ah, thaaat’s better: the old, values-free, win-at-any-price New York Yankees we’ve grown to know and hate.
The Yankees today announced the acquisition of left-hander Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for four minor league prospects of no great note. Chapman is arguably the most dominating late inning closer in baseball, as well as its hardest throwing pitcher: the left-hander averaged 99.5 mph on his fastball last season, and threw more balls in excess of 100 mph than all other major league pitchers combined. So why were the Yankees able to acquire him so cheaply?
Well, it’s because Chapman was regarded as virtually untradable due to his being investigated by MLB for choking his girlfriend, and this was not the first instance where he was involved in alleged domestic violence. The Dodgers had a trade for Chapman in place earlier this month, but pulled out when the team learned the details of the choking incident. (As usual, the girlfriend refused to press charges, and is gambling that she’ll end up rich rather than dead.) Most believe that Major League Baseball will suspend Chapman for up to 40 games under its new domestic violence policies.
Hey, but after that little hiccup, Yankee fans, the Pinstripes will have three beasts in the bullpen to close out games, with the three highest strikeout percentages in all of baseball from 2014-15 in Chapman (46.3 percent), Andrew Miller (41.6 percent) and Dellin Betances (39.5 percent)! What’s a little girlfriend choking when you can get talent like that?
It’s funny, isn’t it? Pete Rose has been decisively banned because he gambled on baseball and lied about it; his association with the game under such a cloud is considered unacceptably damaging to baseball’s integrity and values. In Washington, D.C., the Nationals are desperately trying to get rid of closer Jonathan Papelbon, whom the fans revile for putting a hand around MVP Bryce Harper’s throat for a millisecond in a dugout fracas. The NFL endured months of criticism and embarrassment for shrugging off Ray Rice’s caught-on-camera cold-cocking of his girlfriend, now his enabling wife, and even though the NFL happily fields felons of all sorts every Sunday, teams have released players based on their Chapmanesque conduct. None of this matters to the most storied sports franchise in America. I mean, look at that bullpen! This is great!
With domestic abuse a serious and deadly problem in this country, no kid with a Yankee cap should be cheering a domestic abuser. Nobody should be cheering a franchise that goes out of its way to acquire an abuser, either.
This was an ugly, cynical move that harms the team, the city and the sport.
Finally, a substantive reason to root against the Yankees!
(Other than Alex Rodriquez, of course.)
Ethics Alarms 
I long for the good old days when wife swapping was a Yankee tradition.
Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich! How many remember that today? Best Yankee scandal ever….
Is wife swapping a scandal at all anymore? (Didn’t they make a reality show out of it?) Or does it just have to be called spouse swapping?
Well, that (stupid) show and it’s ilk isn’t really wife-swapping. It’s still a scandal, because it’s still weird.
“Finally, a substantive reason to root against the Yankees!”
And what is your opinion about the Cincinnati Reds? They also make this deal possible.
It’s called “pass the trash.” They want to get rid of the guy, both to dump his salary and to not have an abuser on the team. If the Yankees want a domestic abuser, it’s their choice. How can you blame the Reds?
“How can you blame the Reds?”
Generally speaking, when it is criminal to buy a stolen car, it is also criminal to sell a stolen car.
Analogous to that, if it is unethical to buy an abuser, it is also unethical to sell an abuser.
Also, generally speaking, “Passing the trash” is unethical. In the 80’s past, plenty of European countries dumped their toxic waste in Africa, both parties knowing very well that the receiving country could not take of the waste in a responsible way. In my view both parties where acting unethical.
Passing the trash is not unethical with full disclosure to someone who inexplicably likes trash!
Where is Manfred? This is a “Best interests of baseball” situation. Any transaction on Chapman should be placed on hold until the legal issues are clarified and – most importantly – Manfred makes a suspension decision. The “Best interests” has been applied numerous times over miscreant players, owners and deals.
Manfred has that authority and after resolution Chapman can be traded.
Rick, I thought, after the Dodger trade for him fell through, that WAS how it would be handled.