Aroldis Chapman and the Red Sox agreed to a one year extension valued at $13.3 million, with a mutual and/or vesting option valued at an additional $13 million for 2027. Is this a smart move? On one hand, Chapman is one of the greatest relievers of all-time and is having one of the best seasons of his career, posting a near-career best strikeout-to-walk ratio of 5.29 and an ERA+ of (holy shit alert) 401. That’s pretty good!
But I’ll admit that I’m skeptical. Chapman is 37-years-old. Coming into this season, he showed plenty of signs of age-related decline and increasing wildness, posting a BB9 rate over 5 for 4 straight seasons. While he has been outstanding this season, I’m betting on father time to retain his undefeated streak, and for the long-term trends of Chapman’s career to maintain course. I will also admit that I am biased: I never wanted Chapman on this team and don’t enjoy rooting for him, even now.
There’s no such thing as a bad one-year deal, they say (right, Walker Buehler?) and I’m sure most fans will be happy about this. In a pure baseball sense, there’s not a lot to complain about. But as for me, I’ve never enjoyed looking at the game solely in that so-called pure baseball sense, and don’t plan on starting to now. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Despite the contract extension, Chapman is not the Red Sox fireballer who made the most news this week. That would be debutante Payton Tolle. After his electric start against the Pirates on Friday night, when will he pitch next? His next turn in the rotation will come on Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians. But the organization is closely monitoring his workload and rosters expand tomorrow. He could be pushed back to the weekend series against the Diamondbacks. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Regardless of what impact Tolle has for the remainder of the season, his rapid rise bodes well for Craig Breslow’s efforts to revamp the organization’s pitching development infrastructure. (Jen MacCaffrey, The Athletic)
And what about Dustin May’s next scheduled start? The trade deadline acquisition knows he hasn’t performed, but the Sox don’t have too many other options. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)