Aroldis Chapman is going to get traded. That is the growing consensus around baseball as the August 3 trade deadline approaches. The Boston Red Sox closer is Boston’s most likely trade chip, and every contending team is going to make a call.
Chapman is 38 years old and having one of the best seasons of his career. He has a 2.19 ERA across 26 appearances and 16 saves through the first half. More impressive, he has converted 28 consecutive save opportunities. He is the top reliever on every contender’s target list, and rightly so.
The contract situation is what makes him such a clean trade candidate. Chapman is making $13 million this season with a $13 million vesting option for 2027. Boston can offload the salary, get real prospects back, and free up bullpen depth to develop younger arms in the second half. This is textbook trade deadline strategy.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel gave Chapman a 90 percent chance of being moved in mid June. That number has probably ticked up in the weeks since. Boston is in the mix for a wild card, but the roster is not built like a true World Series contender, and dealing Chapman is exactly the kind of move a savvy front office should make.
The Texas Rangers make a lot of sense as a landing spot. Chapman actually helped the Rangers to their 2023 World Series title before signing with Boston, and Texas has been looking for reliable back end bullpen help all season. Chapman knows the coaching staff, and the Rangers know exactly what they are getting.
The Chicago White Sox are a stranger option. Chicago is in a surprising position of trying to hold onto a division lead with limited relief depth. Adding Chapman for a playoff push would be an aggressive move for a team that has not been aggressive in years.
Seattle is another team that keeps coming up. A trade proposal has the Mariners sending catcher Luke Stevenson to Boston in exchange for Chapman. The catcher position has become a real problem for the Red Sox both short and long term, so a bat there would be a real motivator for the Boston front office. Stevenson is a top prospect who would immediately fill a positional need.
The likely return for Chapman is being described as two prospects, including a top 100 type and another useful piece. That is a real return for a relief pitcher on an expiring contract. Boston front office would be crazy not to at least entertain those offers seriously.
The Red Sox internally are not exactly a title contender in their current construction. They have real talent, including Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, and Sonny Gray. But the roster has clear holes, and Chapman is exactly the kind of veteran piece who is more valuable to a contender than to a fringe team. Selling high is smart baseball.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is going to have a busy month. Chapman is not the only Boston player who could be moved. Sonny Gray, despite his recent All-Star snub, has been mentioned in trade discussions too. Trevor Story is a candidate. Even Alex Bregman has come up in speculative packages. Boston is quietly building itself into one of the most active teams at the deadline, and Chapman is the headline name.
For Chapman personally, another trade would put him with his eighth different franchise. That is a well traveled career. He still throws upper 90s and can dominate in a save situation. He is going to help whichever contender gets him win at least one playoff game.
Watch the Rangers first. Watch the Mariners next. Watch the trade board fill up in the last week of July. Chapman is going to end up somewhere new before August 3, and Boston is going to bank the return.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
