Aroldis Chapman, the next Yankee/Sox battle?

[jacksonianmarch]

Chapman recently gained MLB free agent status after establishing residency in Andorra. He initially thought that MLB GMs would come to him, but he noticed that nobody really was jumping at the idea of going to Europe. So, he has come to NY to meet with GM's.

 

Now, for those who don't know, Chapman is the 21 yr old Cuban lefty who stands 6'4 179lbs and has been clocked as high as 103mph. He has a slider that has plus potential but sits at only average at this point and really didnt show much else. Unfortunately, video beyond his WBC days is limited due to the restrictions on travel to Cuba. SO it is unknown if he actually throws another pitch consistently.

 

His stats from the Cuban national team were not terribly impressive, but he was one of the youngest players in that league. He had a 4.08ERA in 118IP and did not fare well in the WBC in a short stint.

 

Regardless, lefties with his frame and his power are exceedingly rare. Chapman is expected to be offered $40-60mil over a specified amount of yrs (likely 4-6) and will probably start his American professional career in the minors.

 

Teams interested are many, and the top suitors are expected to be the Yankees and the Sox. Now, Chapman is not the only big name INTL FA available. Yusei Kikuchi, the 18 yr old lefty who apparently throws 96mph from Japan is expected to be a hot commodity, and there is always the possibility that Yu Darvish gets posted a bit early. Regardless, expect there to be another big time bidding war. It should be fun.

 

In terms of my thoughts on these guys. Chapman sounds like he could be a very, very good reliever, and potentially a top notch closer with his power. He will need a lot of work to become a starter, but his raw tools are about as rare as they come. Kikuchi is very young, but might be more polished than Chapman in terms of his control. And Darvish is the holy grail per the Japanese media, but we all know how that can work out (see Matsuzaka, Daisuke). All of these guys have risk, but I have a very strong feeling that Chapman ends up in NY and Kikuchi ends up in Boston.

[Cocos Disciples]

http://www.talksox.com/forum/general-baseball-forum/12659-another-cuban-defector-ardolis-chapman.html

[yeszir]

Is Andorra in the habit of taking Cuban defectors on as citizens? Does he ski?

[yeszir]

http://www.talksox.com/forum/general-baseball-forum/12659-another-cuban-defector-ardolis-chapman.html

 

I made a stupid first comment in that thread too.

 

Seriously though, where did you get this info from? Articles of note?

[26 to 6]

According to Heyman Chapman was at Game 6 as a guest of the Yankees. I'm sure he liked what he saw and I'm guessing that could sway him a bit

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/10/25/chapman.yankees/

[Gom]

Chapman will be a Yankee. How good he will be will be anyone's guess.

[Dojji]

He's the next Kei Igawa

[Gom]

He's the next Kei Igawa

 

Could be.

[Dojji]

One difference of course -- we know exactly how old Igawa is.

[jacksonianmarch]

He's the next Kei Igawa

 

He would need to lose about 18mph off his fastball to be Igawa. But I cannot say you are wrong when it comes to production. I truly have no idea.

 

When it comes to big time INTL FA's, we have really not done a good job of getting guys who are already established. We did a good job with guys like Cano, Wang, Montero, etc, guys who were very young coming out of their countries. But of the big ticket guys like Igawa, Contreras, Irabu, and El Duque, only Orlando was well worth the cost

[Paradisecity]

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=4604628

 

Free-agent Cuban left-hander Aroldis Chapman met with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday and reportedly came away impressed with what he saw.

 

"Boston was one of the teams he was interested in from the start, and that certainly hasn't changed," Chapman's agent, Edwin Mejia, told The Boston Globe. "It was a very good visit."

 

Mejia told the Globe that he and Chapman met with baseball operations personnel and one player, whom Mejia would not identify.

 

Chapman, 21, reportedly had been scheduled to throw for the Red Sox as well, though it is unclear whether the wet weather in the area Wednesday pushed back those plans.

 

The New York Yankees also are among the teams interested in pursuing Chapman, who some experts compare to hard-throwing right-hander Stephen Strasburg, the No. 1 overall pick in June's entry draft taken by the Washington Nationals.

 

Mejia told the Globe that 10 teams were interested in meeting with Chapman. Among them are the Seattle Mariners, who have asked for a visit, a source told the Seattle Times.

 

"This is a player who I believe is a special talent, and we're trying to find the right place for him," Mejia told the Globe. "That means the team, the city, even the fans. Aroldis is interested in every aspect."

 

Chapman, whose fastball was clocked at 102 mph at the World Baseball Classic this year, defected from the Cuban national team in August during a tournament in the Netherlands.

 

The bidding for Chapman likely will be competitive, but ESPN's Peter Gammons believes the Red Sox might have an X-factor: shortstop Jose Iglesias.

 

The 19-year-old Iglesias, who was the best shortstop in Cuba and a longtime teammate of Chapman's, signed with the Red Sox this summer and now is playing in the Arizona Fall League.

[yankees228]

He would need to lose about 18mph off his fastball to be Igawa. But I cannot say you are wrong when it comes to production. I truly have no idea.

 

When it comes to big time INTL FA's, we have really not done a good job of getting guys who are already established. We did a good job with guys like Cano, Wang, Montero, etc, guys who were very young coming out of their countries. But of the big ticket guys like Igawa, Contreras, Irabu, and El Duque, only Orlando was well worth the cost

 

Matsui, at least in 2004 and 2005, was definitely worth it.

[Tyler Durden]

Eh, if he's as good as Jose Contreras then the Sawx can hem em.

[jacksonianmarch]

He's different than Contreras. Contreras had great stuff, but he was already close to what he would eventually become. He was just a head case in NY. Chapman is a rough, rough arm, but has some of the best tools you will find on a left handed pitcher. This is the charge of the farm system. If you can control his 102mph FB and his slider, then you could have a left handed ace for a long, long time. Its a risky proposition