Will the Sox get Aroldis Chapman

We all have heard that the Sox payroll is right up against the luxury tax and that John Henry is adamant that they will not go over. With that in mind it seem unlikely they can make this happen. Some speculation exists that the Red Sox could make this happen if Chapman were to accept a minor league deal. With all the teams clamoring for his services it does not seem likely to me that Chapman would have any reason to accept a deal such as that unless he has an overwhelming desire to play for Boston.

This does not even take into consideration about what we think Chapman's potential is. As has been proven consistently simply throwing 100 miles an hour does not mean he will be successful. He has to be coachable, have secondary pitches, and a strong work ethic. The Sox own Daniel Bard who most are convinced will become a dominant closer would have trouble if all he were to throw were the fastball even at the 98 to 100 he hits on the gun.

Taking all things into account this deal seems like a stretch unless the Red Sox talent evaluators, whose predecessors seem to have taken " Go west young man " a little too literally, see something that makes them as certain as one can be in this situation of his future success. Arizona and San Diego, where Theo's disciples currently sit in the GM chair, do not have the budgets to even think about these sort of risky deals. It would be interesting to know if they did if they would be in on the Chapman sweepstakes.