Sox sign Aroldis Chapman
- Thread starter soxhop411
- Start date
Ben Cherrington.
As mentioned, they also have an exec who traded for him in their ownership group (Theo).
I would expect a multi-year deal for Scott as opposed to the one year for Chapman. That's an important distinction.
This guy should not be allowed to play MLB. Incredibly disappointing. Appalling is a better term.
Setting aside the off-field stuff entirely I don't think this is a great signing. One year, just money, so whatever, but for someone who misses so many bats he should have lower FIPs. Seems like he walks too many and gives up too many HRs and that's been true for four seasons so the end result isn't much better than average.
Add in the ego stuff jon abbey mentioned above and obviously the justified distaste many fans have and this is a resounding bleh.
Add in the ego stuff jon abbey mentioned above and obviously the justified distaste many fans have and this is a resounding bleh.
It's almost entirely because of the walks. He's allowed 9 HR in his last 120 IP. The walks are terrible but he strikes out a ton and doesn't really allow many hits.
I don't see many apologetics here. I get it from a baseball standpoint, but I don't like it. I wouldn't have signed him. Hell, I don't even add guys like that to my fantasy team.
I went down a quick rabbit hole to get 'both sides' after seeing this news and saw mentions of 'well, she wasn't even there when he fired the shots' and 'her story changed' and 'he just poked her away and she fell over' and 'it wasn't choking he just pushed her way by the neck but didn't restrict her breathing'. Okay, but...
At the same time, Deadspin has the 911 call and partial transcript partway down this page: https://deadspin.com/zero-tolerance-for-domestic-violence-will-only-make-it-1787428167/ and she's changing her story in real time because she doesn't want him to be arrested because she's considering his career. Seems extremely typical (unfortunately) for DV and even just reading it makes me feel terrified for her. I'm not inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on this.
FO just put a ton of pressure on the rest of the offseason by making this the first addition of note. That said, even if the rest goes swimmingly, this casts a real shadow over the whole enterprise. And I already don't like spending real dollars on relievers in the first place.
I hope this piece of shit blows out in his first spring training bullpen so I don't have to spend all season rooting for him to blow out. Disgusting piece of business by Breslow.
I have posted a lot of critical things about ownership, but I am truly shocked that they are this tone deaf. I really thought they had a better feel for public relations, and wanting to create the perception of being decent people wanting to present a wholesome product to their fans than this. It is really stunning to me.
Cringed with him on the mound when he was at his peak with the Yankees. Good luck holding the curse words in when he walks the bases loaded before finding his fastball.
Don't forget the weird video last year of him playing with his mom's funbags. A truly despicable human.
Very much so. I just don’t belong to Sons of Sid Bream where I can voice my disappointment.
They better do some serious roster upgrades and field an exciting and competitive team.
So....September 13, Sox in the thick of the playoff race, Saturday game in Fenway against the Yankees. Judge is up in the 9th with a chance to give NY the lead and the Sox have Chapman on the mound. Two out. The count runs full before Chapman blows him away with a 99 mph fastball, ending the game, vaulting the Sox ahead of NY for the lead in the AL East.
Who here is cheering?
Who here is cheering?
When he was blowing big playoff games for the Yankees, I thought they deserved what they got. I was also rooting for Cleveland against the Cubs in 2016. Chapman was part of the reason.
Everyone. Shitty human, but if he does well people will cheer. That’s human nature.
They can't have Wong catch Chapman in a tight game with runners on base. He struggles to receive and fame already, and it seems worse with hard-throwing lefties. He would get eaten up by Sale and Paxton a lot.
Honestly - probably me. And I HATE that I would.
From a purely baseball perspective, I don't hate this.
But yuck.
Yes, Sox fans will cheer. Now imagine Chapman walks Judge, then gives up a game winning bomb to Soto. Do people boo louder than if Kenley Jansen served it up?
No the guy who made that spot start in Cleveland in 2023 was worse but Chapman is definitely in the top (or low) 3 on the list for worse signing
I also like the Pirates. I didn't like his signing for them either. I did enjoy watching Paul Skenes and Jared Jones and Oneil Cruz. Chapman is now gone from Pittsburgh, just like he'll be gone from the Red Sox next year. I'll still root for the success of the Red Sox and the individual accomplishments of the players that I like.
On the one hand, I don't want to support Chapman at all. On the other hand, I long ago realized these guys where humans and prone to all kinds of moral failings. From a baseball perspective, I think the move makes sense. From a PR perspective, the front office would have been well-served to have this announced following another major move. As it stands now, it's the first big thing they've done this offseason, and so all of the bright lights are on it.
It's the nature of sports and fandom, right? A guy you cannot stand does something good for your team, and you cheer anyway. If Tyreek Hill played for the Pats and caught a huge touchdown in the playoffs, all us Pats fans would be going crazy. It's just how it is, for better or worse.
Sports kind of forces us to in this way. We invest so much emotional energy into our favorite teams, it's hard to just turn it off. Might be much easier to boo Chapman when he fails, but yeah, people here are going to cheer when he gets that big strikeout in the 9th inning to seal a win. I know we're not cheering him personally, but rather the fact that he is helping our favorite team win.