Dodgers trade for Aroldis Chapman, assemble dominant back end of bullpen

USA TODAY Sports

Badly outbid in their effort to maintain the best 1-2 starting duo in the major leagues, the Los Angeles Dodgers moved quickly to build the most dominant back end of a bullpen, swinging a deal to land left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds.

Fox Sports first reported the trade, which will send multiple prospects to the Reds for Chapman, who will team with incumbent closer Kenley Jansen in a bid to shorten games now that Greinke - the NL Cy Young runner-up - won't be around to team with lefty Clayton Kershaw atop the Dodgers rotation.

While reports early Monday said that the Reds had traded Chapman, Reds officials cautioned a deal had not yet been done. On Monday night, Yahoo Sports reported that Chapman reportedly fired eight gunshots after an altercation in October with a woman claiming to be his girlfriend. But it's unclear whether this is incident is holding up the deal.

Chapman, eligible for free agency after the 2016 season, was an All-Star each of the past four seasons and has a staggering ratio of 15.7 strikeouts per nine innings to go with 146 career saves.

That will pair nicely with Jansen, whose career strikeouts per nine is 14.0. Jansen, 28, has converted 142 career saves in 161 chances. Now, he may cede some of those opportunities to Chapman as club president Andrew Friedman and new manager Dave Roberts have the option to use their bullpen in a far more progressive fashion than the traditional set-up man/closer roles. Like Chapman, Jansen is eligible for free agency after 2016.

Greinke, 32, opted out of his six-year, $147 million contract with the Dodgers and signed a six-year, $206 million deal with their NL West rival Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers have reportedly agreed to terms with Seattle Mariners free agent Hisashi Iwakuma on a three-year deal as part of the effort to replace Greinke.

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