Buster Olney: 'Yankees Showing Signs They Could Acquire Aroldis Chapman [AUDIO]

On Sunday afternoon, the Cincinnati Reds traded starting pitcher Johnny Cueto to the Kansas City Royals. ESPN’s Buster Olney believes that dominant Reds closer Aroldis Chapman could be next and possibly to the Yankees.

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Olney joined Armen and Levack on Thursday and said that he would be ‘shocked’ if the Yankees didn’t make a deal for either Chapman or Padres closer Craig Kimbrel, by the July 31st deadline.

“I suspect that the Yankees will be more aggressive in the talks with the Reds about Chapman,” said Olney, on 104.5 The Team.

“I think that Chapman is going to get traded before the deadline and the Yankees might be willing to build something around Gary Sanchez, their young catcher, or somebody else.
Related: Yankees are in a 'great position' to make move before the deadline.

“The one thing we’ve seen this year is that the Yankees have subscribed to the theory that was demonstrated by Kansas City last year, that you can really win with a dominant bullpen. The Yankees have their own experience with that in the 90’s.”

Kansas City became even stronger out of the bullpen on Sunday by adding Cueto and perhaps this will further entice the Yankees to make it happen. Already, the pinstripes have one of the best one-two punches in all of baseball when it comes to closing out games, between Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller.

“I was talking a Red Sox player this week and mentioned to him, ‘I just get the feeling that the Yankees are lining the weeds for Kimbrel or Chapman’ and he just said, ‘Get the [blank] out of here! I don’t want to hear that! … What?!’”

Buster Olney joins Armen and Levack every Thursday at 5:15pm ET on 104.5 The Team, ‘Your Home for Yankees baseball’.