Will Fans Be Able to Deal With a Trade of Chappy?

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending a dinner where Darryl Strawberry was speaking.

Because of the dinner's topic, the table conversation turned to baseball and the Reds. One of my tablemates asked me who I thought the Reds would trade this winter. I responded with two names: Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman, who I referred to as Chappy.

One of the other people at the table--who admittedly knows nothing about baseball--asked me if Chappy was the guy who threw really fast and I told her that it was. Then she asked me a question. Why would the Reds trade him when he is so good? I tried to explain to her that it was about money and that paying a player $7.5 million--or whatever Chappy ends up with after arbitration--was too much to pay someone who hardly played.  I then had to explain to her what a closer is and why he only comes in at the end of a game. It was a pretty entertaining conversation.

But on the way home, I started to contemplate her original question a little more. And I realized that when (not if) Aroldis Chapman is traded, many fans will ask the same question: Why?

It's the same question a lot of fans have been asking about the Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake trades. Not every fan understands the business of baseball. And I'm not saying that I'm an expert in it, but I understand enough to know that Chappy has become a luxury for the Reds. A luxury they can turn into promising younger players they can control at a lower salary for a longer period of time.

But for the less engaged fan, all it means to them is that when the bullpen door opens, Chappy won't come out and throw those three digit fastballs. And that will be hard for those fans to deal with and understand.

It will be interesting to see how the organization sells a trade of Chapman, or Bruce, or any of the other veterans that might be on the block this winter.  The Reds have already introduced a number of great ticket promotions, clearly anticipating that they're going to have to work to keep everyone's support this season.

Today, Richard Justice of MLB.com wrote a column speculating on the top five possible trade destinations for the Cuban Missile.