Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Hey, so remember when Aroldis Chapman being traded to the Dodgers was a done deal and our biggest point of discussion was how to use him and what the prospect cost will be?
Well that seems dead now, because according to a report by Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, in October Chapman fired eight gunshots at his home in relation to an incident where he allegedly abused his girlfriend.
Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman allegedly fired eight gunshots in the garage of his Miami-area home following an October argument with his girlfriend in which she told police he “choked” her and pushed her against a wall, according to police reports obtained by Yahoo Sports.
Additionally, a recent report by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe brings into question when exactly all the parties involved knew about this.
The Red Sox had been exploring a possible trade for lefthander Aroldis Chapman from the Reds in November until the team discovered in its background check that the Reds reliever had allegedly been involved in a domestic dispute, according to multiple industry sources.
Certainly the Reds appear to have known already, but did the Dodgers know and try to trade for him anyway or did the Reds do a rather scummy thing and try to pass off Chapman to the Dodgers hoping they wouldn’t find out about this?
In any case, the report brings the MLB’s new domestic violence policy into play.
Source: The Aroldis Chapman trade now in the hands of MLB, which is launching an investigation after domestic violence incident surfaced
— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) December 8, 2015
#Dodgers people had counseled earlier in day that more than medical review was holding up deal. Now difficult to see it going thru
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 8, 2015
So understandably this trade probably isn’t going to be happening, and from my perspective shouldn’t be happening. Even if the domestic violence allegations prove false (and that’s a big if), the fact that Chapman admits to randomly firing his gun around the house makes him seem like a dangerous person (and that certainly appears to be connected to intimidating his girlfriend), and I’m not sure the Dodgers need another off-the-field mess on their hands.
Heck, even putting all that aside (and you shouldn’t put it aside), trading for a guy with one year left of team control that might be suspended for a solid chunk of that single season is just plain stupid just from a baseball perspective. Even if Chapman does get cleared in a few weeks, it’s hard to imagine all of the hassle surrounding him is worth it at this point.
