2010s 十大交易案第五集,翻譯Mike Petriello的外電。
來源:https://www.mlb.com/news/the-10-biggest-mlb-trades-of-the-2010s
5) The Cubs solidify their curse-breaking team
July 25, 2016: Yankees trade P Aroldis Chapman to Cubs for IF Gleyber Torres,
P Adam Warren, OF Billy McKinney and OF Rashad Crawford
What even?
It's not terribly often that the Yankees find themselves being on
the "selling" side of these things, yet that's what was happening in the
summer of 2016. Five days later, they'd send Andrew Miller to Cleveland,
shaping a 2016 World Series that they wouldn't actually participate in. The
Cubs were 20 games over .500 at this point and were well on their way to the
postseason, but they didn't want to rely on Héctor Rondón and Pedro Strop
in October.
Baseball factors aside, this one had the additional angle of Chapman having
been suspended for the first 30 games of the season for being the first
player to violate baseball's new domestic violence policy, making his
acquisition considerably and understandably unpopular with a broad swath of
Cubs fans.
5. Aroldis Chapman 交易案
小熊拿到:Aroldis Chapman
洋基拿到:Gleyber Torres、Adam Warren、Billy Mckinney、Rashad Crawford
(1) 交易當時背景
攤開洋基的歷史來看,他們很少在季中的交易市場中擔任賣家,但在2016年洋基
高層認為以當時的陣容實力,沒辦法在競爭激烈的美聯東區討到甚麼便宜。所以洋基隨後
就賣掉了陣中兩大救援王牌Aroldis Chapman跟Andrew Miller,竟然間接促成了當年世界
大賽決戰組合。小熊在當年7/25號時有59-39的優異戰績,領先分區第二的紅雀七場勝差,
晉級季後賽看起來是勢在必行。但是小熊的牛棚深度不足,只有Rondon跟Strop有穩定的表
現。交易來頂尖後援Chapman無疑為球隊打了一記強心針。
可是,Chapman在2016季初因為家暴被聯盟禁賽30場,成為第一個違反MLB新板家
暴防治條例的球員。這件醜聞讓許多芝加哥媒體和球迷不歡迎這位火球男的到來。
Were the takes good or bad?
Complicated. The prospect cost was high for a rental reliever, but it was
impossible to talk about this one without discussing the off-the-field
implications. "Cubs pay a heavy price for Aroldis Chapman, on and off the
field," wrote ESPN, accurately summing up the conversation.
(2) 交易當時評價
很難以一句話斷定,以一個半季控制權的救援投手來說,小熊付出的成本很高,
而且不能忽略Chapman家暴醜聞對球隊形象帶來的傷害。ESPN當時的頭條寫道:「為了
Aroldis Chapman,小熊在場上與場下都付出了高昂的代價。」,對這個交易下了最完美
的註解。
And then what happened?
Chapman was fantastic down the stretch for the Cubs,
not that it really mattered that much for a team that won the NL Central by
17 1/2 games. He threw 15 2/3 postseason innings, contributing 2 2/3 vital
scoreless innings to save World Series Game 5, but he also allowed runs in
both Gamed 6 and 7, including Rajai Davis' game-tying homer in the eighth
inning of the final game. It's impossible to know if they'd have won or not
without him, but the flag flies over Wrigley Field forever. After the season,
he'd return to the Yankees, where he's whiffed 247 in 158 2/3 innings since.
Warren kicked in 117 2/3 solid innings through 2018. McKinney helped return
J.A. Happ from Toronto.
Torres, meanwhile, has immediately become the star he was projected to be.
He's made the AL All-Star team twice in two seasons, smashing 62 homers with
a 125 OPS+, and he'll only be 23 next year.
(3) 交易後續影響
Chapman的投球表現真的太棒了。或許你可以說沒有Chapman的小熊還是可以贏得
分區冠軍,但是如果沒有他季後賽合計15.2局的投球,山羊魔咒很有可能還沒被打破。小
熊在世界大賽前四戰中只贏得一勝,第五戰的領先也岌岌可危之中。Chapman在G5主投2.2
局無失分的表現宛如及時雨,挽救了陷入絕境的小熊,將戰局延長到克里夫蘭。Chapman在
G6-G7的表現並不好,連續兩場都有失分,包括Rajai Davis在第七戰的追平兩分砲。但是
Chapman還是小熊能一路過關斬將的重要功臣,瑞格里球場的冠軍旗幟將永遠存在小熊球迷
心中。
另一方面,Torres在2018-2019年都入選明星賽,兩年合計出賽267場就打出62支
全壘打與125 OPS+的優秀成績,23歲的他將會是聯盟的下一代明星。
Would each team do it again?
Yes. The Cubs would have done just about anything to break the curse. The
Yankees got back a star in Torres, plus Warren and McKinney (via trade) were
nice pickups, too.
(4) 如果可以回到過去,交易雙方會反悔嗎?
小熊不管要付出多大的代價,就是要擺脫Murphy山羊的糾纏,他們當然不會後悔
;洋基拿到了年輕新星Torres、表現不錯的後援Warren,McKinney也在2018年JA Happ交易
包裹中,洋基在這筆交易上展現的操作令人讚賞。
To be continued....
給TRosenthal大:下一集就是你期待的Archer交易案了,其實我更期待Shelby Miller的搶
劫案(對蛇迷板友很抱歉)