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Early this morning, Jayson Stark reported that the Padres and Yankees had worked through the night on a deal that would ultimately send Craig Kimbrel to New York, and now Bob Nightengale has revealed that they're also in on Aroldis Chapman.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yankees?src=hash">#Yankees</a> are one of five teams aggressively pursuing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Reds?src=hash">#Reds</a> Chapman to be their closer.</p>— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/627111547748225024">July 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">So the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Yankees?src=hash">#Yankees</a> could use similar prospect package for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Padres?src=hash">#Padres</a> Kimbrel as well as Chapman</p>— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) <a href="https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/627112478586085376">July 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Aside from the fact that this is big news just on the Yankees front, it's also a surprise to see Nightengale report that there are five teams in serious pursuit of Cincinnati's All-Star closer. The Diamondbacks are the only other concrete team that has been linked to Chapman, as they've gone as far as submitting a proposal to acquire him.
It's possible that the Yankees are merely playing the Padres and Reds off one another, and that by showing interest in both closers, they could potentially lower the asking price on either reliever. Adding Kimbrel to their bullpen would be lethal enough, but adding Chapman would be over the top. Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Chapman would be the ultimate three headed monster.
Jon Heyman is also reporting that while they're still waiting to see if Kimbrel could be coming their way, they could abandon him, as well as Chapman, and turn to the Marlins for a reliever.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">yankees are waiting on SD and kimbrel but may turn to marlins carter capps instead</p>— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/627114098334003200">July 31, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>