Levine: Joe Maddon Focuses On Building Trust With Aroldis Chapman

By Bruce Levine--

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Aroldis Chapman's entry into Cubs nation wasn't a smooth one by normal baseball standards, as he's been going through the public scrutiny wringer from the moment he arrived in Chicago on Tuesday.

Chapman has taken heat regarding his comments on a past domestic violence incident, and he was was livid with the way he was depicted in columns, articles and talk across the city. In Chapman's eyes, some made him look unconcerned with the domestic violence incident with his girlfriend last October in which he fired gunshots, while the Cubs organization was also questioned about how they approached the acquisition of Chapman from the Yankees.

A basic mistrust about his new city and team was on Chapman's mind Wednesday evening after he tossed a perfect inning in his Cubs debut. Chapman initially refused to speak with the media before he was eventually convinced by Cubs media relations staffers and catcher Miguel Montero to do a brief interview.

With this in mind, Cubs manager Joe Maddon has an approach he hopes his club and others can use to make Chapman feel welcome.

"Just watching this thing unfold over the last few days -- him coming into our city and becoming a part of the organization -- he was in awe," Maddon said. "Almost immediately being confronted with a lot of questions and scrutiny, we have not even been able to build a relationship with this guy. That makes it really difficult."

"What I am really trying to do right now is build a relationship so he starts trusting me."

Maddon wasn't lecturing the media but rather appealing to the human side for a player who displayed awful actions and had to explain the incident to the masses a second time. While no charges were pressed in the incident, Chapman was suspended for 30 games under MLB's domestic violence policy. When he returned in May, he spoke with the New York media about it.

A Cuba native who speaks little English, Chapman wasn't expecting to have to go so in depth again on the topic. During his introduction to Chicago media Tuesday, Chapman couldn't recall any details of a Monday conversation with Cubs owner Tom Ricketts and president of baseball operations Theo Epstein, saying he was "sleepy." It was a conversation the Cubs had explained was vital to acquiring Chapman.

Later, Chapman shed more light in a one-on-one interview conducted in Spanish, but the damage was already done.

For his part, Maddon wants to earn Chapman's trust.

"Once we can build some trust in there, we can really begin to understand what exactly he is all about and what he is thinking," Maddon said. "So moving this forward, this is my perspective on things. I know there has been some pushback from this point. Try to understand where he is coming from -- we don't know him, he doesn't know us. He also really doesn't know the language."

Commenting on the present unfamiliarity -- not actions of the past -- Maddon is asking those in Chicago to be patient with Chapman and have an understanding of his communication problems.

"My best advice is to -- for me too -- is to attempt to build a relationship," Maddon said. "I have spoken to him really just once. I tried to get him to relax and get an understanding between us. We want him to know what we are all about here. As we develop better relationships with him, the conversation is going to flow a lot more easily.

"You are then going to get the kind of information you are looking for. To put myself into his shoes, coming into a new venue and new city, it's a pretty heavy moment. So I am looking forward to the next few days to further our communication and really understand where he is coming from."

Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.