Aroldis Chapman, a lefthanded Cuban pitcher who has been known to hit triple digits on the radar gun will soon be making close, if not more than $10 million a year. Currently, the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox (among other teams) are likely to court the Cuban Defector. While I fully support the Yankees’ quest to further the talent on their club, I am not so sure about Aroldis Chapman. Looking back on previous talent the Yankees have either signed from Japan or as Cuban defectors, their career haul hasn’t been that great in all honesty. The lone exception is El Duque, who had been above average during his time with the Yankees (See: 1998 ALCS). Here are the career stats for those wonderful Yankees imports:
El Duque: 90-65, 4.13 ERA
Kei Igawa: 2-4, 6.66 ERA
Jose Contreras: 71-63, 4.61 ERA
Hideki Irabu: 34-35, 5.15 ERA
Going even further, Daisuke Matsuzaka hasn’t been that great for all the hype he has received. His career numbers are: 37-21 with a 4.00 ERA.
In conclusion, while Aroldis Chapman could potentially be a devastating weapon to have, especially in Yankees Stadium, the trends that have been set before him don’t favor his success. I fully expect the Yankees to be involved in this and I wish them the best of luck. However, if Chapman bombs in his MLB career, I will be the first one in the ‘I Told You So’ line.
Kevin Rozell
M. B. Rozell
Ray Rothfeldt
Eduardo Perez
Totally agree with you in regards to Chapman and Orlando Hernandez….
I couldn’t agree more with you. We have been burned to no end with these foreign pitchers.
El Duque was a little different though and I would call him a great success..considering he is one of the best postseason pitchers of all-time. He also had a really good record with an ERA in the low 4′s. He wasn’t the dominating pitcher during the regular season, but he showed up in October.
After Igawa..it’s hard for a Yankee fan to say go out and get this guy. It could certainly pay off in the end, but is it worth it?
Zell
If we can be sure hes the age he claims to be I’d like to see them go after him.
I would really like the Yankees to grab Chapman for $30 million or less and have patience with him. He could be a big pitcher 2 or 3 years down the road, but I don’t think it would happen immediately. The worst would be if they signed him for $60 million and expected him to start right away.
I am still a on the fence regarding Chapman, but it seems like his upside is pretty good. Also, with the wealth of young starters on the roster I don’t mind the idea of throwing another young and talented arm in the mix, with the hopes of coming out with 2 superstars to match with an aging CC in 5 years. On the other hand, it would suck to have 2 Igawas in the system.
I think they should wait and see what the market offers.
Aroldis might be using his back n forth sports skills right because of the toughness in the play. It made me a bit of complex once I was doing betting in one of his sports games play.