In New York, stupidity works both ways
by
, 07-26-2016 at 02:23 PM (822 Views)
I just don't get it.
With a week to go before the trade deadline, the Yankees traded away fireballing closer Aroldis Chapman to the NL Central leading Chicago Cubs, getting back reliever Adam Warren and three minor leaguers in return. Warren, based on what I'd read, didn't quite find a comfort zone in Chicago, perhaps unhappy about being forced to leave the Bronx after last season. Now, he comes home, and the Yanks have wasted money spent on a marketing campaign.
What marketing campaign, you ask?
Why, No Runs DMC, of course.
Yes, it's a riff on the legendary 80's rap group Run-DMC, and the idea was that with Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances, the Yanks had a end-of-game bullpen combo comparable to what Kansas City has had the last couple of years. I actually saw a guy wearing a No Runs DMC shirt at a Valleycats game last month, so the marketing ploy was working.
Chapman will be a free agent after the season, so the Cubs, particularly GM Theo Epstein, will look to lock him up long term, especially if the Cubs end more than a century of futility and finally win the World Series. The deep pocketed Steinbrenner brothers are hoping that isn't the case, but something tells me their late father would not have signed off on trading Chapman, and blocked the deal. Of course, the team least thrilled about all this is Chapman's original NL Central club, the Cincinnati Reds, who now must consider the prospect of seeing their former teammate close games against them. Don't think Chapman has forgotten the circumstances which led to his departure, and the fact that the Reds were essentially forced, due to legal issues hanging over Chapman's head, to trade him to the Yankees.
All this proves to the fans in New York is that the Mets' front office isn't the only one prone to bonehead plays.