So What Did the Yankees Give Up Exactly for Aroldis Chapman?

The New York Yankees gave up four prospects for at least one season of team control for Aroldis Chapman but what did they really give up? You all know the names. Rookie Davis, Tony Renda, Eric Jagielo and Caleb Cotham but many don’t watch the prospects as closely as the next guy and may not know what the Yankees truly gave up in the deal. I will try to educate you a bit the best I can on this deal so you can make your own determination of whether the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman did well in this deal or not.

Rookie Davis is a big guy and a hard thrower, he was also one of my personal favorites out of the Yankees farm system. Davis stands 6’5” and is 22-years old. That’s the good of it, the bad of it was that he’s barely pitched above A-Ball despite being in the Yankees system for what feels like forever. Davis is not a huge strikeout guy, 129 strikeouts in 130.2 innings in 2015 will show you that, but he was a control guy, which was evident by his 26 walks. Rookie, or William Davis, saw his K/9 ratio drop to 6.5 in his six appearances with the Trenton Thunder last season, his first stint in AA. While Davis is a loss in the depth department he wasn’t on many Top 10 Prospects lists and he is very replaceable inside the organization. The Yankees have a ton of right-handed starting pitching depth in the minor leagues and much of it is in Triple-A. Davis will be missed by fans but the organization will go on without him, that’s baseball unfortunately.

Eric Jagielo is probably the best piece given up by the Yankees in this deal but he is one I am not personally real high on. Jagielo is now 23-years old and was a former first-round pick by the Yankees in the 2013 Draft. Jagielo finally reached Double-A last season despite being showcased as a polished college bat. If this tells you anything the Reds came out and said Jagielo would likely be a bench and utility player for them. They think about as highly about him as I do it seems.

Caleb Cotham is a relief pitcher that appeared in 12 games for the Yankees last season. Cotham posted a 6.52 ERA in those 12 games and gave up a ton of home runs coming out of the pen. You all know the list of names that could potentially replace him in the bullpen this season, he’s expendable and the Yankees traded from a position of strength. Somehow they traded the player they seemingly liked the least, based on usage, and still got some value out of him. Good trade.

The final piece in the trade was second baseman Tony Renda. Renda was acquired from the Washington Nationals in the David Carpenter trade. New York essentially got something for nothing with the trade for Carpenter after the team designated him for assignment and then was able to flip him for Chapman. Renda was left unprotected from the Rule 5 Draft this season and was not taken at 24-years old. Renda has not yet reached Triple-A in his career.

So basically, in closing, the Yankees gave up very little in the grand scheme of things and got a huge closer back in return, Chapman. If Chapman is suspended for 45 days or more he will be under team control for the 2017 season as well leaving the Yankees with even more of a victory in my eyes.