The Boston Red Sox made their first significant move of the offseason Tuesday when they signed 36-year-old reliever Aroldis Chapman to a reported one-year, $10.75 million deal.<\/p>\n
Chapman, a seven-time All-Star and one-time American League Reliever of the Year has become an immediately divisive signing with Red Sox fans on social media.<\/p>\n
Strictly baseball-speaking, his best playing years are behind him. He had an ERA of 3.79 last year with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Off the field, he\u2019s one of the more unpopular players in the game. He was suspended for 30 games in 2016 for violating MLB\u2019s domestic violence policies.<\/p>\n
Adam Jones and Rich Keefe reacted to the signing Tuesday on WEEI.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither you or I like the Aroldis Chapman signing,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Rich Keefe echoed some of the thoughts of Red Sox fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s 100 years old, bad dude,\u201d Keefe said.<\/p>\n
Despite the facts of this particular signing, Jones wondered if the Red Sox should be given credit for doing something fans were begging for: committing a decent amount of money to signing a free agent.<\/p>\n
\u201cI personally think you can say they didn’t really spend, this is a one-year, $11 million signing. But, are we being hypocrites by saying, \u2018Sign, sign, sign,\u2019 \u2018Spend, spend, spend,\u2019 then they sign somebody and spend, and we go, \u2018Too much money?\u2019\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
Keefe says that this signing still doesn\u2019t convince him that the Red Sox plan to spend this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cA commitment to the team, and a long-term commitment, is one of these mega-deals, which they haven’t signed in a long time. Re-signing Devers, sure. But like a 12, 13-year deal to Soto, or six-plus years, let’s say, to like Corbin Burnes or somebody like that, that is a big-time commitment,\u201d Keefe said.<\/p>\n
Despite the amount of money spent, a one-year deal for a reliever does not indicate a larger commitment to spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey spent more money for Chris Sale to win the Cy Young somewhere else last year than they did on Chapman,\u201d Keefe said.<\/p>\n
While Red Sox president Sam Kennedy recently told the Boston Globe that the team might spend over the luxury tax threshold, or CBT, this offseason, should fans still be concerned that nearly $11 million has already been spent on a non-marquee player?<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this an indication [that] they’re not going to spend big on Soto or Corbin Burnes? They\u2019re going to spread it out. And if you only have 70 million to spend because they refuse to go into the luxury tax, now I need to criticize how you spend it,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n
If the Red Sox are still willing to spend money this offseason, and Chapman\u2019s signing is the first of many moves to come, why make such a controversial player your first offseason addition?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don’t like the timing,\u201d Keefe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Red Sox fan has ever liked Aroldis Chapman,\u201d he continued. \u201cSome will convince themselves they do now because he’s on the team, and that’s what happens, whatever. But he’s a bad dude.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if the reports about Boston\u2019s interest in major free agents are accurate, the Chapman signing could become a footnote.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet’s say, you know, the pipe dreams all come true, and they are major players, and they make trades, they sign either Soto or Burnes or whatever. And then, also, the fifth name is Chapman. You’re like, \u2018Well, that’s kind of odd, but whatever, hey, we still got Soto.\u2019 And, like, you’re still fired up about it,\u201d Keefe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this guy is mowing down hitters in the eighth and ninth inning, people will move on. Whatever, he’s good now and, you know, second chances and all that other stuff. But for him to be like the first guy is kind of obnoxious,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
In another scenario envisioned by Jones, however, Chapman could be the first of several minor, similarly priced signings for ancillary pieces. At that point, a player suspended for domestic violence would become the face of the Red Sox offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe’s kind of the face of again [if] they spend 70 million and they spend it on five or six different guys, and they’re all 10 million players, and Chapman was first, he\u2019ll kind of be the face of it,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Boston Red Sox made their first significant move of the offseason on Tuesday, signing reliever Aroldis Chapman. Jones and Keefe reacted to the signing, which neither of them like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14381,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n