Cubs trade elite prospect to get elite pitcher (Aroldis Chapman). Will the Dodgers do the same?
With one week to go until baseball’s trade deadline, Dodgers fans wait to see if their team will do what the Chicago Cubs just did.
On Monday, the Cubs paid an astonishing price to rent Aroldis Chapman, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the season. For Chapman, perhaps baseball’s most dominating closer, the Cubs surrendered four players to the New York Yankees — including an elite prospect, shortstop Gleyber Torres.
The Dodgers last year declined to trade any top prospects when they needed to acquire starting pitching, resulting in a deal for Alex Wood and Mat Latos rather than one for David Price, Cole Hamels or Johnny Cueto.
The Dodgers had two aces this time last year: Clayton Kershaw, currently on the disabled list with no timetable to return, and Zack Greinke, who signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks when the Dodgers would not match Arizona’s $206.5-million contract offer. (Greinke also is currently on the disabled list.)
Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, now says the team is engaged in the pursuit of high-level talent, which would require a package of high-level talent in return. Targets among starting pitchers include Chris Archer of the Tampa Bay Rays, who is scheduled to start against the Dodgers on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, and Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox.
For two months of Chapman, the Cubs traded two of their best prospects. Baseball America ranked Torres, 19, as the Cubs’ top prospect, and among the 30 best in the minor leagues. The Cubs also traded outfielder Billy McKinney, 21, who ranked among baseball’s top 30 prospects last summer and still ranks among the Cubs’ top 10 prospects. The Cubs also traded major league swingman Adam Warren and minor league outfielder Rashad Crawford.
The trade afforded the Cubs the opportunity to reap the benefits of flexing their financial might in Latin America, where prospects are not subject to the draft. In 2013, when the Cubs signed Torres out of Venezuela for $1.75 million, they spent roughly twice as much as any other National League team on bonuses for international prospects. The Dodgers recently have employed a similar approach, and some of their international prospects could become trade chips.
Chapman rebuilt his trade value after serving a 30-game suspension for violating baseball’s domestic violence policy. The Dodgers had a deal in place last winter to acquire Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds, but they backed off after learning that Chapman was the subject of a domestic violence investigation. He was alleged to have choked his girlfriend during a dispute at their Florida home and firing eight shots from a gun in the garage, according to a police report. Chapman acknowledged shooting the gun but said he never hurt anyone.
In a statement Monday, Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said the team takes the issue of domestic violence “very seriously” and said he had spoken with Chapman.
“I shared with him the high expectations we set for our players and staff both on and off the field,” Ricketts said. “Aroldis indicated he is comfortable with meeting those expectations.”
Chapman said in a statement: “I regret that I did not exercise better judgment and for that I am truly sorry. … My girlfriend and I have worked hard to strengthen our relationship, to raise our daughter together, and would appreciate the opportunity to move forward without revisiting an event we consider part of our past.”
bill.shaikin@latimes.com
Twitter: @BillShaikin
