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Rozner: Cubs pay heavy price in acquiring Chapman

Some of the decrepit narratives that have surrounded the Cubs during this rebuild become more difficult to defend by the day, not that it will stop some from trying anyway.

Another fades away as the Cubs have become serious buyers at the trade deadline, trying to put the club in a position to win come tournament time, though there are never any guarantees once the postseason begins.

But given that there have been hiccups in the starting rotation, and that there is very little rotation help available right now, the Cubs have decided to shorten the game.

And shorten the game, they have.

The Cubs have a potential Royals thing happening here with Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, Hector Rondon in the eighth, Pedro Strop in the seventh, and Joe Maddon's choice of Mike Montgomery, Travis Wood and Joe Nathan in the sixth.

Knowing Maddon, he won't be shy about starting the process earlier in a postseason game if a starting pitcher is in trouble.

So there's no doubting that the Cubs got better Monday morning by acquiring a lockdown closer who throws 105 mph, and they made certain Chapman won't be pitching against them in the postseason for Washington, San Francisco or St. Louis.

So much for the theory that the Cubs don't care about winning.

In fact, they might care too much about winning.

While they got better on the field Monday and paid a high price to do it in the form of elite shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, they also got much worse off the field and paid a high price in regards to character.

Owner Tom Ricketts will have to choose his words carefully from now on when speaks about what kind of player the Cubs want in their family, and what kind of player he's comfortable employing.

Chapman is accused of physically assaulting his girlfriend last year and firing a gun in anger, a domestic violence incident that could have been much worse, and it was already very bad.

It's Theo Epstein's job to find the best player and give the Cubs the best chance to win. It's the owner who has to decide if he wants that player on his team.

Ricketts made his choice and he's hardly the first to do so, not even in Chicago and not even in the last year. The local football and hockey teams made similar calls and weren't even slightly apologetic about it.

Winning usually comes above all else in the sports business and it will be an uncomfortable look for the team, not to mention an uncomfortable fan base that has been patient through a rebuild.

Those who choose to root for Chapman either don't care about domestic violence, or will swallow hard and look the other way for a chance to watch a parade this fall.

As for the trade itself, Torres was a big chip to deal - he's a monster prospect and has advanced to high Class-A at a very young age - but the Cubs gave up no prospects close to being big-league ready, and they also dealt from a position of strength.

They already have two shortstops at the big league level in Addison Russell and Javy Baez, and letting go of Torres was necessary to get the Chapman deal done.

It will look worse if the Cubs can't work out a contract extension for Chapman, who's only a few months away from free agency, and Torres might come back to haunt them.

But you can't have it both ways.

The Cubs needed to get better this week and they had to give up something to get that done.

They also did it without losing Russell, Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, Jorge Soler or Eloy Jimenez, to name just a few of the players some believe the Cubs should have traded a year ago for a rental when they weren't even in a playoff position at the deadline.

So the Cubs are better with Chapman and Montgomery than they were a few days ago as they chase that coveted ring.

And in more ways than they might care to admit, they paid a price in the process.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.

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