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Cubs Acquire Aroldis Chapman For Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren, Billy McKinney, 1 Other

The deal's done, and the Cubs bullpen just got a lot better.

By Al Yellon
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The rumored deal between the Cubs and Yankees is complete, according to various national baseball writers. Closer Aroldis Chapman is coming to the North Side in exchange for the Cubs' top prospect, infielder Gleyber Torres.

Also included in the deal is righthander Adam Warren, who's heading back to where he came only three months into a mediocre Cubs career. He did well in New York and I wish him well.

Another player going to the Yankees is outfielder Billy McKinney, whose prospect stock has fallen in the last year. There'll be one other player to complete this trade, perhaps a player to be named later.

All of this is via Jon Heyman on Twitter. Neither team has confirmed this deal.

Torres is just 19 years old but already turned enough heads to be at the top of Cubs prospect rankings and was No. 27 overall in Baseball America's 2016 midseason prospect rankings. Nevertheless, he's probably three years away from the big leagues and the Cubs are in win-now mode.

Odd, isn't it? The Cubs are buying and the Yankees are selling in a deadline deal, not words you'd have read here a couple of years ago.

Chapman has been one of MLB's top closers over the last few years and, as you know, can consistently throw 100 miles per hour or even a bit better than that. We're quite familiar with him from his years in the N.L. Central with the Reds. Even though this is his seventh big-league season, he's just 28 and still in his prime. Looking at his numbers from this year, his walk rate is down, which is good. His K rate is also down -- don't know if this is meaningful, or perhaps an adjustment to a different league. The rest of his peripherals look pretty good, though, as do his save numbers (20 saves in 21 opportunities this year).

I'll have further thoughts about Chapman and the controversies surrounding him later. For now, this deal certainly makes the Cubs bullpen quite a bit better.

UPDATE: The fourth player in the deal is Rashad Crawford, a 22-year-old outfielder currently playing in High-A. He was the Cubs' 11th-round pick in 2012.

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