Daugherty says Aroldis Chapman will remain in Reds bullpen

Have you heard the news? According to Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Reds are expected to announce today that Aroldis Chapman will remain the closer. I repeat. Aroldis Chapman will be the Reds closer in 2013. He is no longer expected to work his way into the starting rotation.

Update (11:50am)

Contrary to a report, the #reds (Baker and Jocketty) said there was no decision on Chapman, nor will there be any announcement today.

— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) March 21, 2013

Daugherty clearly announces his displeasure with this decision, wondering what the Reds have been doing all this time preparing him to start and wondering why they paid Jonathan Broxton so much now. I, for one, tend to agree with him, although in the short term, this certainly doesn't hurt the team's chances in 2013. The bullpen just got that much better, and the rotation is the same as it was last year, with a couple veterans and a couple prospects as depth.

Did Chapman's recent confession convince the Reds to make this decision? Chapman finally expressed his desire to actually remain the closer, citing the rush he gets from pitching in the ninth inning with the game on the line. Who can blame him? The excitement really ramps up in the ninth inning of a close game versus say the third inning.

We know Dusty Baker was certainly in favor of having Chapman as his closer as he felt that was the best role for him to fill in order for Baker to field the best possible team. He butted heads with the front office on this decision all offseason. Looks like he'll get his way.

So what will the Reds do with Broxton? Obviously if he's on the team he's going to be pitching the eighth inning to set up Chapman while making occasional appearances at closer, but will Broxton be happy with this role?

While I was looking forward to Chapman having the chance to develop into the next Randy Johnson, I'm very excited to see him run out for ninth inning to blow hitters away with his fireball fastball and make the others look silly with his slider. Maybe he refined the changeup enough to actually toss a couple of those in there too. We shall see. Opening Day is but a mere 11 days away.