Dodgers News: Dave Roberts Says Chapman Trade Is Still Possible

It’s been a whirlwind between the Dodgers and Aroldis Chapman so far. The team had reportedly struck a deal with the Cincinnati Reds to acquire the hard-throwing closer, but after details emerged about a possible domestic violence incident, the Dodgers backed away from the deal.

It was then reported that the team would completely abandon the idea of trading for Chapman, but it looks like that’s not entirely true. In an interview with Jim Rome, Dave Roberts said the book isn’t quite closed just yet:

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I don’t think that we closed the book on that. I know that we are excited about potentially making that trade. And obviously, if you see Chapman on the mound and he’s dominate out there and we were going to be better for it. So obviously, with what happened, we are just kind of letting the process kind of play out and we will try to circle back if that’s the case, but obviously, we’re looking at definitely other options. I’m not going to tie ourselves to that right now, but we will kind of let things play out for sure.”

Based on what Roberts said, it sounds the team is simply looking for clarity on Chapman’s status. Should Chapman’s issues get resolved, it seems evident that the team would still want him in the back of its bullpen. If his status remains murky, Roberts did mention that there are other options out there — Andrew Miller’s name has been brought up in the past — so it’s not like it’s Chapman or bust for the Dodgers.

Still, it would be nice to get a definite answer one way or another.