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Chapman Says Answers From Opening Press Conference Lost in Translation

Tuesday afternoon, one day after being traded to the Cubs, Aroldis Chapman met with the Chicago media during an introductory press conference at Wrigley Field. It did not go well.

 

Through a translator, Chapman said he had no recollection of a talk with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein and team chairman Tom Ricketts about expectations off the field. Both parties got together for a conference call to make sure everyone was on the same page before the trade went down.

 

Naturally, Chapman has been getting crushed for his comments in the wake of his offseason domestic violence incident, which resulted in a 30-game suspension. He came off as unapologetic and seemed to simply blow it off when asked Tuesday about whether he's changed over the last few months.

 

Chapman's comments during the press conference were not presented accurately, however. Spanish-speaking reporters in attendance confirmed the translator did not provide literal word-by-word of Chapman's comments. Instead, the translator seemed to put his two cents in.

 

Chapman spoke to ESPN's Pedro Gomez one-on-one in Spanish following his press conference to clarify things.

 

Chapman told Gomez quote - "I knew that no matter where I was traded to, this would resurface -- that the controversy is going to follow me. But I'm with my girlfriend. Our family is together. We're working toward making things better in our lives. And really, it's going to be with me."

 

Epstein told Gomez he thinks "there is a lot to be said that he was nervous and not speaking his native language and being translated." He added the team was satisfied by what they heard from Chapman during the conference call, otherwise they would not have agreed to the trade.

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