The Pittsburgh Pirates stunned the baseball world, including their own fan base, by agreeing to a one-year, $10.5 million contract with left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman on Monday.

The move can be viewed in multiple ways, the most optimistic being that the Pirates bolstered a bullpen that features two-time All-Star closer David Bednar. Chapman provides an imposing presence as a 6-foot-4, 235-pound lefty who has averaged nearly 15 strikeouts per nine innings in 14 seasons and has played on two World Series champions.

Pirates fans have been begging for chairman Bob Nutting to increase payroll, but Chapman’s signing leaves more questions than it answers.

The biggest: Is this a precursor to a trade?

There’s no doubt Chapman, a seven-time All-Star who averaged 34 saves a season from 2012-19, still has dominant stuff. He relied primarily on a four-seam fastball that was clocked at 105.1 mph in 2010 and an unhittable slider early in his career, and he has complemented his repertoire with a 101-mph sinker that opponents batted .097 against last year and a splitter that drew an eye-popping 48.6% whiff rate.

Per Statcast, Chapman ranked in the 99th percentile or higher in fastball velocity (99.5 mph), whiff percentage (44.2%), strikeout rate (41.4%) and expected batting average (.171) and in the 95th percentile in expected ERA (2.82) last season. The swing-and-miss element is undeniable. Chapman, however, drew a low chase rate (23.4%), which led to a 14.5% walk rate that ranked among MLB’s worst.

At first glance, it’s easy to imagine the Pirates having one of baseball’s best bullpens, with righty sinkerballer Colin Holderman in the seventh inning, Chapman in the eighth and Bednar closing it out. That both lefty Ryan Borucki and righty Carmen Mlodzinski also found success in late-inning leverage roles made the back end a less pressing need.

There’s a school of thought that the Pirates added depth to their bullpen to make up for their inability to attract mid-tier free-agent starters or swing another trade for someone who can join Keller and lefties Marco Gonzales and Martin Perez in the rotation.

Perhaps they could use Borucki more as an opener — he tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts in two starts last season — or place less of a demand on young starters Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz and Quinn Priester to cover more than five innings.

But the Pirates are making Chapman their highest-paid player this season — $500,000 more than outfielder Bryan Reynolds and $547,500 more than the combined salaries of Bednar ($4.51 million) and All-Star starting pitcher Mitch Keller ($5,442,500).

That’s closer money for someone who spent last season as a setup man and turns 36 on Feb. 28 and has dealt with several off-field issues in his career. What kind of a message does it send to Bednar and Keller, who have both expressed interest in signing long-term contracts?

There’s plenty of risk involved, especially when it comes to Chapman’s character. He was a Pirates nemesis while with the Reds, once drilling fan favorite Andrew McCutchen in the back with a 101-mph fastball in 2012. Of course, McCutchen has long put that behind him and probably would rather play on the same team with Chapman than face him. They were briefly teammates with the New York Yankees in 2018.

In 2016, Chapman was suspended 30 games while with the New York Yankees for violating MLB’s personal conduct policy related to domestic violence. He showed his on-field value when traded to the Chicago Cubs, helping them win their first World Series in 108 years.

Chapman returned to the Yankees and had three seasons with 30 or more saves before losing his closer job to former Pirate Clay Holmes while on the injured list with Achilles tendinitis in 2022. Chapman missed another month with a leg infection, caused by a tattoo, then was dropped from the ALDS roster after missing a mandatory workout.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman called Chapman’s workout no-show “a little shocking” but added that “when you add everything up, it’s not surprising” and questioned whether he was truly “all-in.”

The Kansas City Royals took a low-risk gamble on Chapman, signing him to a $3.75 million contract last season. He resurrected his career with a 2.45 ERA and a 16.3 K/9 rate and was traded to the Texas Rangers in late June. With the Rangers, Chapman was 6-5 with a 3.09 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, averaging 15.9 strikeouts and five walks per innings in 61 appearances. He converted four of seven save opportunities with the Rangers while setting up closer Jose Leclerc.

For all of the Rangers’ success with Chapman — he never blew a lead in the playoffs and they won the World Series, after all — the Royals got the better end of that deal. They received Cole Ragans in return and, after going 5-2 with a 2.64 ERA in 12 starts, the 25-year-old left-hander looks like a future ace.

Perhaps the Pirates are hoping they can create a similar move at the trade deadline this summer. That’s the pessimistic view for a fan base that has watched them become annual sellers after the All-Star break.

Starting with Nutting, the front office has proclaimed that expectations were raised by the 14-win improvement last season, and they have promised to increase major-league payroll and deliver a championship contender.

After finishing with a minus-98 run differential last season, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington has been adamant that they need to score more runs. Instead, they have made their greatest investments in adding veteran pitchers to prevent them.

So why spend so much salary on a setup man? It doesn’t make much sense unless, of course, the Pirates are planning to trade Bednar.

That would be an unpopular move. Bednar is one of the team’s most beloved players, taking a backseat only to McCutchen. The Mars alum not only loves playing for his hometown team but is heavily involved in charity projects and was their nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award.

“I’m so fortunate to have the opportunity to play for the Pirates, a team I grew up watching. It’s such an awesome opportunity for me because this city has given me so much and these fans have come out and supported us from the start,” Bednar said Monday during a guest appearance on MLB Network’s Hot Stove. “Anytime you have an opportunity to give back and you can, you try to make the most out of it. I put myself back when I was younger and how excited I would have been if somebody from the Pirates, Steelers or Penguins would come to an event and how special that would be. That’s the eyes I look at it through.”

Yet Bednar’s value has never been higher, coming off a season in which he converted 39 of 42 save opportunities to lead MLB in save percentage. At 29, he’s still young and comes with two more years of club control. With Josh Hader (Houston) and Yariel Rodriguez (Toronto) off the market, Bednar could be the best and most affordable option for a contender looking to add a dominant closer.

Maybe the Pirates will use Bednar as trade bait to acquire a starting pitcher and/or a position player. They resisted dealing him last summer, showing faith in his importance to their future. Bednar also went a month between save opportunities last season, a sign that a closer’s dominance doesn’t matter much if they are always trailing.

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