Aroldis Chapman The Andy Morales Of Pitchers?
Remember Andy? Via Jack Curry –
When the Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman visited Yankee Stadium in October, the Yankees asked his representative if Chapman could throw a bullpen session for them. Edwin Mejia, who has since been replaced as the agent, said Chapman would not at that time.
Joe Kehoskie, an agent who has represented Cuban defectors for 11 years, said Chapman “might have more upside than any pitcher on the planet.” But in terms of being ready for the major leagues, Kehoskie added that Chapman “is a strong candidate for being the fool’s gold of the current free-agent market” because he is still developing complementary pitches and working on his control.
Before the Yankees signed Orlando Hernandez (four-year, $6.6 million contract in 1998) and Contreras, they had scouted both multiple times and knew they were pursuing pitchers acknowledged as the best in Cuba. In the year before the Red Sox signed Matsuzaka, they watched each of his starts in Japan and knew he was the best pitcher in that country. No team has as detailed a dossier on Chapman, who was not yet the best pitcher in Cuba. “I find it very difficult to believe any team would offer Strasburg money, based on eight-month-old gun readings from the W.B.C.,” Kehoskie said. “Beyond that, Chapman was declared a free agent nine weeks ago. When was the last time a player was a free agent for nine weeks, generated little or no action, and then had teams suddenly making record-breaking offers?”
Robert Eenhoorn, a former Yankees infielder who is the general manager of the Netherlands national team, is the rare official who has seen Chapman pitch. Eenhoorn watched Chapman against South Korea in 2007 and said Chapman was impressive for that level of play.
“He has an exploding fastball, but was also wild with it,” Eenhoorn said. “He is, without a doubt, a great player. But, as everyone knows, velocity alone is not enough nowadays.”
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman declined to discuss Chapman. Although Chapman is much different from Kei Igawa, the soft-tossing left-hander from Japan, it would be natural for Cashman to ponder what went awry with Igawa as he considers Chapman.
After the Red Sox outbid the Yankees for the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka, the Yankees bid $26 million for Igawa’s rights, then signed him to a four-year, $20 million deal. Igawa had a 6.66 E.R.A. in 2007 and 2008 and was marooned in the minor leagues last season.
Speaking generally about the pursuit of international pitchers, Cashman said: “Everything influences you. On the failures, you assess where it failed and why. You look at the competition level and how it translates to pitching here.”
I’ll repeat what I said last month, we don’t need another Brackman. Pass.
I tell ya..the more I hear about this guy..the less I want him on the team.
To be honest, players like this are complete toss-ups. Every few years there are can’t-miss, unbelievably dominating international pitchers that every team would love to have. They have all the talent in the world, all the skills but you just have no clue how it will turn out.
You can say you don’t want another Brackman, but ask the Mariners how they felt about taking a risk on an international sensation named Felix Hernandez? Ask the Red Sox if they were happy they paid big money for Dice-K who helped ensure them a 2007 title? Or, even though the money isn’t even close to comparable, if the Yanks were happy with what Orlando Hernandez did for them?
Sure, this kid can be a Brackman or a Contreras or maybe even an Igawa, but you just don’t know. With a big risk can come a big reward.
For the record, i’m not saying I want Chapman. I’m just saying I won’t be up in arms if the Yanks sign him. He has a ton of upside, and if he pans out he’ll be quite a weapon. If not, it’s wasted money. Oh well.
Due diligence. The Yanks would be stupid not to at least look into it. Having said that, he’ll need a couple of years in the minors to polish his game.
Chapman isn’t anything like Igawa? I guess the Yankees aren’t going to waste a bunch of money on him?
Steve Lombardi wrote:
All well and good. You’ve made your call.
Now if the Yanks don’t sign Chapman, but the Red Sox do, and he becomes a big start for them, I don’t want to see anything here about how Cashman screwed up on this one.
I’m not saying they should sign him; I’m not saying they shouldn’t. The plain truth is: I don’t know, so I won’t blame Cashman if he guesses wrong here, either way
@ Evan3457:
I will say it because I think they should sign him. Kei Igawa doesn’t have the stuff this guy has.
But, either way. On one hand we would be fools to go in blindly and sign him on hype without kicking the tires, but, we’d also be fools to not sign him cause Igawa was a bust. Sure, you can (and should) factor in the past when making a decision about an international signing, but you also have to take each case individually or else you might miss out on someone special.
Corey wrote:
That’s fine Corey; that’s reasonable, and it could work out big-time for them. The problem is payroll limit (self-imposed) and it’s a low probability move, just because Chapman is a pitcher unproven in the major leagues.
But I can’t say you’re wrong, because I really don’t know.
I get more of an Irabu vibe from this guy than anything else.
YankCrank wrote:
Regarding Brackman, I think it’s a bit unfair to write him off a year removed from TJS and his first year as a pro.
[...] Watching dredges up the ugly memory of Andy Morales when thinking about the possibility of signing Aroldis Chapman. The more I [...]
[...] the Yankees have made Chapman a better offer? Yeah, well, probably. But, I’m glad that they didn’t. And, I applaud Brian Cashman and the Yankees front office for not biting on an abstract talent who [...]