Aroldis Chapman NEW YORK, NY – JULY 18: Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during their game at Yankee Stadium on July 18, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

We’re a week and a half away from the MLB trade deadline, and perhaps the most interesting name on the market right now is someone who was just traded a matter of months ago – New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman.

Th 28-year old Chapman is having another delightful year, pitching to a 2.22 ERA in 28 1/3 innings, striking out 40 and walking just eight. And while his 36.7% strikeout rate is his lowest mark since 2011, his 7.3% walk rate is far and away the lowest of his career. Chapman’s fastball is still brutal, averaging 99.9 mph this season, the fastest mark among qualified players in all of baseball.

But the Yankees are languishing in mediocrity at 47-46, 6.5 games behind the Orioles in the AL East and five back of the Blue Jays for the second Wild Card spot in the American League. Furthermore, New York’s upcoming schedule is absolutely brutal – their next eight and 18 of 21 games are against teams above .500.

So it should come as no surprise that the Bronx Bombers are shopping Chapman, who will be a free agent after this season. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reports that it simply makes the most sense for the Yankees to trade him, while ESPN’s Buster Olney reports the Yankees are already shaping Chapman deals with potential suitors, including the Nationals, Rangers, and Indians.

The Yankees gave up four prospects for Chapman, but none of those four were all that highly touted. In fact, just two of the four, Rookie Davis and Eric Jagielo, rank among MLB.com’s top 30 Reds prospects, and each of those two are outside the top ten!

With the uncertainty of a domestic violence suspension (it was eventually 30 games) no longer hanging above his head, the Yankees are poised to cash in on Chapman’s still-strong value, and their financial might will let them eat a part of Chapman’s reasonable (by comparison) $11.325 million contract if it allows them to bring stronger prospects back in return – and the three teams mentions by Olney aren’t short of talented minor leaguers.

Will Chapman be the only big name player traded by the Yankees? Probably – I don’t see them moving on from Carlos Beltran in the final year of his deal, or eating a good hunk of Alex Rodriguez’s deal to end his tenure in the Bronx. Dellin Betances isn’t going anywhere because of his age, low salary, and remaining years of control, and with two-plus years still left on his contract, Andrew Miller will still have value a year from now if the Yankees feel like they can contend in 2017.

And besides, if the Yankees did want to bring Chapman back next year, they wouldn’t have to give up a draft pick for him anyway, whether or not they trade him or hang on to him. And Chapman isn’t the type of player whose value would decline if he received a qualifying offer and had draft pick compensation tied to him, so it’s not as if trading him would inflate his market this offseason.

As all of the pundits have stated, it simply makes sense for the Yankees to deal Chapman before August 1st, even though that doesn’t seem like “the Yankees way”.

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.