The biggest news in Baseball today: The cubs have just acquired the star closer Aroldis Champan. In return the Cubs said goodbye to Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren, Rashad Crawford as well as Billy McKinney, who were exchanged in the trade with the New York Yankees. The Chicago Cubs hope that the loss of Torres and Warren will not leave them at a disadvantage. The Cubs are optimistic though, that the addition of Chapman will really cement their chances of winning the World Series. We will have to wait a while to see if the Cubs really will be on their way to winning the World Series. In the meantime, you can sign up and claim your welcome bonus at Royal Vegas where you can be a winner too! They have some fantastic sports themed video slots which are tons of fun.

Chapman does come with his fair share of controversy though. It was reported that the star athlete had allegedly choked his girlfriend and firing his gun eight times. Following this claim, he was suspended for the first thirty games of the season due to the league’s strict policy regarding domestic violence. This meant that he lost a total of $1,856,557 in earnings. But I suppose that is not a terribly big amount in comparison to his usual total salary of $11,325,000. In the end the police declined to actually file any charges. This was on the basis of insufficient evidence regarding the possible assault committed by Chapman.

Theo Epstein, the president of the Chicago Cubs explains that the trade was a balancing act of sorts. Epstein’s strategy of acquiring Chapman will have long term benefits in terms of helping them at the World Series. Epstein has his hopes set on winning three post-season series. He explains that this goal is not an easy one to attain, and that having someone elite like Chapman, with his phenomenal pitching. This is a very bold and even aggressive move that the Cubs have made –and you can see that they have their hearts set on winning that World Series. The fact that they traded four players for just Chapman, who has his controversial history, speaks volumes to the level of commitment they have in building a team so perfect that is has to win.

Hopefully Chapman will be able to help the Cubs release these goals before the end of the season, as it is rumored that he will be a free agent after this season. Currently, there are no talks regarding possibly extending Chapman’s contract with the Cubs. Chapman is aware that there are some high expectations of what he will be able to bring to the team and he reportedly feels comfortable in meeting those expectations. Right now it is uncertain as to whether or not the Cubs’ gamble will pay off; we will have to wait until October to see. But sometimes you have to take a big risk in order to receive a big reward.