ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers acquired Aroldis Chapman in a trade with the Kansas City Royals on Friday, adding a once-dominant closer to their bullpen as the AL West leaders chase their first division title in seven years.
The 35-year-old Chapman wasn’t of much use to the last-place Royals, where the left-hander landed this season after a six-year stint with the New York Yankees. Just before that, he split 2016 between the Yankees and Cubs, helping Chicago win its first World Series championship in 108 years.
Kansas City gets left-hander Cole Ragans, who had been called up from Triple-A Round Rock earlier in the day, and minor league outfielder Roni Cabrera.
The Texas bullpen has been hot and cold while the Rangers have spent most of the season in first place coming off six consecutive losing seasons.
Chapman had two saves in 31 appearances for Kansas City, which is buried in last in the AL Central, more than 10 games behind the fourth-place Chicago White Sox.
The Cuban reliever who routinely tops 100 mph has seen a slight uptick in velocity this season. Chapman has averaged 101.65 mph on his sinker, up from 100.25 last year. His fastball average is 99.61 mph, up from a career-low 97.46 in 2022.
Chapman broke into the majors with Cincinnati in 2010 and pitched for the Reds through 2015. He is 24th on the career saves list with 317, but has just one season with 30 since 2020. He drifted in and out of the closer role late in his career with the Yankees.
