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With the start of the season growing closer and closer, the New York Yankees announced Aroldis Chapman as closer this week. Even with two other All-Star caliber closer types on the roster, it is the absolute correct move by Joe Girardi.
Chapman had to be the closer. He is the new guy with an interesting personality, and he probably wouldn’t taken it all that well if he wasn’t named closer. Andrew Miller, last year’s closer, has given nothing but positive statements all offseason. He is the ultimate team player, so he is surely taking this “demotion” in stride. Dellin Betances, who has been one of the better setup men in the league the past two seasons, obviously has no problem not being the guy. Keeping Chapman happy is certainly important and will pay dividends this season. He will be lights out in the ninth.
Most importantly, Chapman is the most talented out of the three. The guy regularly throws near 105 mph. He could come in and finish a game with his unhittable stuff with ease. He gives the Yankees the best chance to finish out a game without blemish. Game plan wise, Miller can now be used in a multitude of ways. He could be the eighth inning guy or he can be used in the seventh when a few tough lefties are coming up. Miller is clearly more than a lefty specialist, but he sure can be used as a weapon against them. He and Betances don’t need to have set innings. They can be flipped depending on matchups which is great bullpen versatility to have.
Chapman will surely serve some sort of suspension for his domestic violence incident, but it’s not expected to be all that long. So this may be temporarily on hold when the season starts, but it’s nice that everyone knows the structure now and won’t have to answer questions. In the end, the Yankees’ bullpen is loaded with these three guys. None of them are easy to hit against, but Chapman sticks out more than anyone in all of baseball.
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