According to Jorge Arangure (ESPN), “it’s quite possible Aroldis Chapman might not get more than $20 million. Perhaps not even that much.” Arangure’s latest tweet is in congruence with what I said over the weekend, at iYankees, after Noel Arguelles only received $7M from the Royals over 5 years. The Yankees will easily win the bidding for the lefty if this is the case.
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That last sentence doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If he’s not going to cost over $20 mil to sign, couldn’t the Red Sox easily win the bidding as well?
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Chris H. Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Well, sure, theoretically that could happen. In fact, there are a number of teams that could beat $20M (most baseball teams, could, actually).
However, as others have noted as of late, the interest in Chapman stops at a certain financial point due to his unknowns. Still, the Yankees are one of the few teams that can risk $20M. Even the Red Sox, with holes in their lineup, may not see that as a worthwhile risk which is why no one is reporting that there will be a huge bidding war for Chapman. If it was known that the Red Sox were willing to go over $20M, then Arangure would not have tweeted this.
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The other Chris H Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
At 20-25 million over 5-6 years I think all the risk is completely gone for the Yankees, once you are talking 4 or 5 million a year it’s chump change. You can make that much money and not even be good in this league, if Bruney was set to make 2 million next year then Chapman at 4 or 5 is no big deal at all! If we can get him that cheap you have to sign him just on the chance he is good or even mediocre as a starter.
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They let 3-4 good draft picks go back to college and I’m assuming it was to save money for this kid. He’s a no-brainer for that money.If he develops quickly and he should, He’s Pettitte’s heir apparent.
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Chip Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
He’s not exactly the type who will develop quickly. You’re probably looking at a 3-4 year time frame before he could be fairly decent.
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The other Chris H Reply:
December 7th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
You could see him in the bigs before that… I agree he probably needs at least 2 years in the minor but he could get a taste of the majors by the time he is 24 and that is a good age to come up… Maybe a September call up at 23.
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