In a bold and surprising move the Cincinnati Reds scooped up the young fire baller Aroldis Chapman in a reported 5 year $30 million deal. Cincinnati general manager Walt Jocketty has yet to return phone messages to comment on the reported acquisition of Chapman. But it still comes as a surprise if it’s the Reds who signed Chapman, as the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Yankees and Angels were believed to be the front-runners for the lefty’s services, according to recent reports. Chapman’s fastball has been clocked around 100 mph and he made a splash for the Cuban national team during the most recent World Baseball Classic. Chapman had been one of the best free agent starters that was available this offseason with the talent he possess and his young age. However, he is still a big question mark.
The Reds have the makings of a great rotation to back up a young and upcoming offensive attack. Chapman will be an excellent middle to back of the rotation starter to complement Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, Edison Volquez and Johnny Cueto.
Woah! This is the first I saw this. Makes me as a Reds fan very happy. Hope he isn’t a bust. But you have to imagine that with that type of stuff if he somehow doesn’t work out in the rotation he could be a heck of a reliever.
There is no question the kid has some great stuff, but I think he will turn out to be like Dice-K, Hideo Nomo, and Dontrelle Willis. He will have his claim to fame early in his career as the league will be unfamiliar with him. Once hitters start to face him more and make some adjustments, he will probably struggle just like the above mentioned pitchers. I have been wrong before plenty of times so he might prove me wrong. I like how the Reds took one for the small market teams, but I don’t know how you can make a 5 year commitment to a pitcher who has never faced MLB hitters before besides maybe a few in the World Baseball Classic, in which he struggled.
yeah 5 years is a long time for an unknown entity but I don’t know if I would compare him to Japanese players. Look at Orlando Hernandez, Livan Hernandez, Jose Contreras, etc… they all had good success at the major league level too. Chapman may not turn out to be the next Randy Johnson but he should be a good pitcher.