2009 Int'l FA Market: Cubs Sign 6 For $250,000+ Bonuses

[Guest]

Rumor that Cuban lefty Aroldis Chapman has defected in Rotterdam: http://www.cubaencuentro.com/es/deportes/noticias/el-pitcher-aroldis-chapman-abandona-el-equipo-nacional-en-holanda-190890

 

Holy crap!

 

How much would he fetch in the open market?

 

Well, Contreras got 4/$32 million when he defected and that was back in 2002.

 

Alexei Ramirez got 4/$4.75 million ($500k bonus) in 2007.

 

Dayan Viciedo got 4/$11 million last offseason.

 

Chapman should obliterate that.

[Tony Thomas]

How good is chapman?

[Guest]

Count the #Cubs as another team angling for VZ SS Humberto Valor. Other teams involved are #Reds, #Braves

 

- Jorge Arangure

[Outshined_One]

How good is chapman?

 

My memory is that he's not quite as good as Strasburg, but assuming he defected and signed this year, he'd probably be the #2 prospect in baseball at year's end.

[Guest]

How good is chapman?

 

Very. He's probably the second most coveted player not in the majors or minors behind Yu Darvish.

 

21 years old, lefty great fastball (93-96, topped out at 100 in the WBC, supposedly hit 102 in Cuba).

 

Baseball America[/url]"]Chapman also throws a changeup, slider and curveball, but it's the fastball that has scouts drooling.

 

"If you are looking for more than that in a pitcher, you'll be searching your whole life," an AL scout said. "He was so much fun to watch. If he's 21 like he's listed, the sky's the limit. You've got honestly just one or two tweaks that could be made but he could go straight to the top of a big league rotation."

 

If he ever did defect, or if the current U.S.-Cuba embargo rules are ever loosened, Chapman would immediately become one of the most coveted free agents on the planet.

[Tony Thomas]

How good is chapman?

 

My memory is that he's not quite as good as Strasburg, but assuming he defected and signed this year, he'd probably be the #2 prospect in baseball at year's end.

So, he is not one of the prospects from Cuba who would go straight to the majors

[Outshined_One]

How good is chapman?

 

My memory is that he's not quite as good as Strasburg, but assuming he defected and signed this year, he'd probably be the #2 prospect in baseball at year's end.

So, he is not one of the prospects from Cuba who would go straight to the majors

 

Apparently he needs a bit of refinement, but my guess is that he wouldn't stay in the minors very long.

[Guest]

How good is chapman?

 

My memory is that he's not quite as good as Strasburg, but assuming he defected and signed this year, he'd probably be the #2 prospect in baseball at year's end.

So, he is not one of the prospects from Cuba who would go straight to the majors

 

Yeah, he's only 21 and his control can be suspect.

[questionmarkgrace]

From Baseball Reference

 

Aroldis Chapman

Aroldis Chapman de la Cruz

Bats Left, Throws Left

Height 6' 4", Weight 179 lb.

Born September 11, 1987

Aroldis Chapman has shown flashes of brilliance in his young career but has also struggled at times. He has hit 102 mph on the radar gun.

Chapman debuted with Holguín in the 2005-2006 Serie Nacional, going 3-5 with a 4.33 ERA. He then put on an excellent show in the 2006-2007 Serie Nacional. He had a 4-3 record, 7 saves and a 2.77 ERA. More impressively, he struck out 100 and allowed just 59 hits in 81 1/3 innings. He led the league in strikeouts, five ahead of runner-up Adiel Palma, though he also ranked 6th in walks (50).

In the 2007 Pan American Games, he pitched one scoreless inning, struck out two for the Gold Medalists. He was a star in the 2007 Baseball World Cup, in which Cuba won Silver. He struck out 9 in 7 innings in a win over South Korea and whiffed 11 while allowing only 3 hits and a run in eight innings in the semifinal win over the Japanese national team. He was named to the tournament All-Star team as the top left-handed pitcher.

Chapman's success in international events did not carry over for the 2007-2008 Serie Nacional. Aroldis was 6-7 with a 3.89 ERA despite a .200 opponent average and 79 strikeouts in 74 innings. He tied Norberto Gonzalez for 7th in the league in strikeouts.

On December 20, 2008, Chapman broke Maels Rodríguez's record for fastest pitch in Cuban history when he reached 102 mph on the radar gun.

Chapman pitched for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, going 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA despite 8 K's in 6 1/3 IP. He dueled Travis Blackley evenly in Cuba's 5-4 win over Australia; after 3 solid innings, he gave up a Luke Hughes double in the 4th, balked him to third and then allowed a single to Ben Risinger to tie the game at one. He got the start in a key match against Japan and hit 100 mph on the radar gun but struggled in a loss to Daisuke Matsuzaka. He helped his own cause by picking off Michihiro Ogasawara and Seiichi Uchikawa after walking them in the 2nd. In the third, he gave up singles to Kenji Johjima and Akinori Iwamura. Ichiro Suzuki bunted back to Chapman, who threw to third for a force. Yasuyuki Kataoka singled and Chapman was yanked in favor of Norberto González, who let all 3 inherited runners score.

Chapman went 11-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 2008-2009, striking out 130 in 118 1/3 IP. He led the Serie Nacional in K, 11 ahead of Yunieski Maya. He tied for 4th in wins, was 5th with 62 walks and tied for the most wild pitches (14). While Chapman won the headlines with his flame-throwing, Maikel Folch was named Cuba's best left-handed pitcher that year.

[edit]Sources

[illiniguy]

So Yankees and Boston will be all over this guy?

[Guest]

I won't be around a computer for the next few hours but you can follow updates here:

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=1327

[Guest]

A list of guys the Cubs have been linked to:

 

SS Miguel Angel Sano, Dominican Republic - no offers until his age is confirmed; Pirates, Twins and Orioles thought to be leader

OF Wagner Mateo, Dominican Republic (age 16) - will sign with Cardinals

3B Chesler Cuthbert, Nicaragua (age 16) - will sign with Royals

RHP Chris Cabrera, Dominican Republic (age 16) - signed with Yankees

LHP Juan Urbina, Venezuela (age 16) - signed with Mets

SS Humberto Valor, Venezuela (age 16) - competing with Reds and Braves

RHP Jochi Ogando, Dominican Republic (age 16) - competing with Giants and Dodgers

1B/C Jacob Beltre, Dominican Republic (age 16) - main threat are the Giants, also the Brewers

LHP Kirby Peña, Dominican Republic (age 16) - Cubs are leading candidate, competing against Reds, Tigers, Pirates and Astros

[apete6]

This whole system is terrible. My god. An international draft is a must. I know that all of the money the teams pay to develop these academies and whatnot, but this whole thing being a free for all is just ridiculous.

[Outshined_One]

Badler:

 

July 2 signing: #Brewers sign Dominican RF Jose Pena. 6-3, 190, plus arm, power potential

[Outshined_One]

Heard #Cubs might have signed VZ C WIlson Contreras $850k. From what i understand Contreras was eligible last year but signed 2009 contract

 

-Jorge Arangure

[Outshined_One]

From the BP Blog:

 

11:10 AM: A source close to the situation says that 21-year-old Cuban LHP Aroldis Chapman indeed has defected. There were conflicting reports about the accuracy of a report yesterday at cubaencuentro.com about Chapman defecting. I’ll continue digging for more details.

[Outshined_One]

From the BP Blog:

 

11:10 AM: A source close to the situation says that 21-year-old Cuban LHP Aroldis Chapman indeed has defected. There were conflicting reports about the accuracy of a report yesterday at cubaencuentro.com about Chapman defecting. I’ll continue digging for more details.

 

ESPN confirmation. If his age checks out, he could get $30m at a minimum.

 

Fangraphs breakdown of Chapman from earlier in the year.

[sneakypower]

whats the book on Wilson Contreras?

[Outshined_One]

Jorge Arangure:

 

#Reds top target is Humberto Valor and he isn't likely to sign today

[Roast]

So there's absolutely no chance we sign this Chapman guy, right?

[Guest]

From the BP Blog:

 

11:10 AM: A source close to the situation says that 21-year-old Cuban LHP Aroldis Chapman indeed has defected. There were conflicting reports about the accuracy of a report yesterday at cubaencuentro.com about Chapman defecting. I’ll continue digging for more details.

 

ESPN confirmation. If his age checks out, he could get $30m at a minimum.

 

Fangraphs breakdown of Chapman from earlier in the year.

 

He's already played in the WBC. His age has been checked out.

[Guest]

So there's absolutely no chance we sign this Chapman guy, right?

 

I wouldn't say that but you have to imagine the Yankees and Red Sox will be the leading contenders. He's going to get $30-$60 million.

[Guest]

So far:

 

Astros: SS Jonathan Mejia, Dominican Republic - $370,000 bonus

A's: SS Wilferdo Solano, Venezuela

A's: 3B William Jose "Junior" Martinez

A's: OF Alfred Alejandro Sosa

Brewers: OF Jose Alberto Peña, Dominican Republic - $400,000

Cardinals: OF Wagner Mateo, Dominican Republic - $3.1 million

Cubs: C Wilson Contreras, Venezuela - $850,000 bonus

Mets: LHP Juan Urbina, Venezuela, $1.2 million

Pirates: OF Ping-Hung Chi, Taiwan

Pirates: RHP Shen-Cin Hong, Taiwan

Pirates: 1B Chih-Wei Hsu, Taiwan

Yankees: C Gary Sanchez, Dominican Republic - $3 million

Yankees: SS Damian Arredondo, Dominican Republic - $850,000

Yankees: RHP Chris Cabrera, Dominican Republic - $400,000

[Guest]

whats the book on Wilson Contreras?

 

I asked Kiley McDaniel on his BP blog and he doesn't know much either:

 

I don't, but the guys that aren't 16 get very little attention, even if they are bigger money types. It's actually a bit of a (brace yourself for Moneyball buzzword) market inefficiency that I'll be writing about soon.

[Guest]

3:28 PM: This might be the last update of the day. Talked to some agents and clubs and it seems like all of this morning’s news was stuff that was done days or weeks ago and we’re now into a secondary market of sorts. Negotiations are just now heating up with this next group of players, but not much movement is expected today. The second and third tier players are now fielding offers from teams that are formulating their final answers after watching the elite guys line up and set the market. It’s a similar to how lots of draft picks in sports like football or basketball won’t sign until the guy ahead of them sets a ceiling they can negotiate under. It’s almost like there’s a second signing period that will open up in a day or two with teams currently getting their boards finalized and sending out offers while agents search for the best deal. Of course now that I’ve said that I’m sure 30 deals will get done in the next 5 minutes.

 

- Kiley McDaniel, BP