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« Discussion: Players On One Year Contracts | Main | Indians DFA Matt Herges »
Aroldis Chapman May Be 26 Years Old
Jack Curry of the New York Times reports that Cuban lefthander Aroldis Chapman may be 26 years old rather than the 21 he was believed to be.
"[Chapman's] age was reported Thursday as 21, but reports in March at the World Baseball Classic said he was 26."
Chapman defected on Wednesday while in the Netherlands, and is considered the best lefthanded pitcher in the world not pitching in the Major Leagues. Obviously the age issue could affect Chapman's payday. But he still figures to draw plenty of interest, as did Jose Contreras at age 30.
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I could have sworn all the announcers at the WBC said he was 21.
Posted by: Will Smiff | July 03, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Bummer. He now goes from a uberprojectable kid, to a dude who's close to being a finished product. GM's will still throw mad money at him though.
Posted by: Casanova Wong | July 03, 2009 at 10:44 PM
Wow, this is a first. A Cuban player not his reported age.
Posted by: ErroRod1985 | July 03, 2009 at 10:55 PM
Raise your hand if you're surprised...
**Crickets chirping.**
Posted by: soupdujour | July 03, 2009 at 10:57 PM
(weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee)
that was the sound of his earning potential free falling......(crash) can you say $10 mil signing?
Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | July 03, 2009 at 10:59 PM
I was just about to post a link to the Times article. Should've known that mlbtraderumors was on the job!
Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | July 03, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Throw him in jail
Posted by: the lowercase zach is better | July 03, 2009 at 11:00 PM
I bet Aroldis Chapman is truly 21. Like i said the other day i was in Cuba in April, and i done alot of talking with Locals trying to get info on players Mainly Chapman and Viciedo, and 6 Men all told me Chapman is 21, Chapman is from Holguin which is where i stayed and they all seemed to know of the kid since he was young, i think hes legit and 21.
Posted by: Superman | July 03, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Time for a World Draft.
Posted by: coryjwilson | July 03, 2009 at 11:04 PM
i really hope its not true that hes 26, it would be pretty fun to see the bidding wars and the development of him and strasburg along side and maybe someday an eventual pitchers dual of the two.
Posted by: sharx | July 03, 2009 at 11:05 PM
Ahh.. thank you for fixing this writeup. I was about to post another rant comment about skewing was was written in the actual article. There were past reports that had him at 26, NOT "Jack Curry reports that Chapman is 26." Thanks for fixing it.
Posted by: blueandteal | July 03, 2009 at 11:06 PM
Strasburg should have the same right to negotiate with 30 teams as Chapman.
Posted by: coryjwilson | July 03, 2009 at 11:12 PM
the lower case zach is better:
Hey, he never said that he was 21 American reporters did. But as for all the strasburg stuff, I wonder what it would be like if the MLB draft followed the same procedures as the NFL or NBA and allowed teams to trade picks or even sell them. If the Nationals had held an auction with the other 29 teams and said the rights for Strasburg were available to the highest bidder in terms of players and/or money what all would have transpired.
Posted by: bravoboy10 | July 03, 2009 at 11:28 PM
Maybe Sanos is in his early 20s then. The Yankees might want to consider signing him. A shortstop maybe 3rd baseman who has Hanley Ramirezs body and Albert Pujols power. Who knows what he will accomplish but they need to start thinking about the future when it comes to the left side of the infield.
Posted by: Tim | July 03, 2009 at 11:56 PM
Tim, Jeter will play at least 2 more yrs and Arod is locked up for 9 more yrs. If he is going to be a 3B, he wont fit into the Yanks plans, as he wont take 9 yrs to develop...
Posted by: lakersdodgersyankees4life | July 04, 2009 at 12:05 AM
He will still get good money. If I am not mistaken wasn't Daisuke Matzuzaka 26 when the Red Sox gave him his deal and teams were going crazy to sign him. I do not see much of a difference besides the lack of a posting fee which will let more teams jump into the bidding.
Posted by: metfan57 | July 04, 2009 at 12:06 AM
DiceK was a much more finsished project and a proven player. Also, hows DiceK doing this yr???
Posted by: lakersdodgersyankees4life | July 04, 2009 at 01:15 AM
I can't see how any of these players are worth $50 million to a team. Economically speaking. Is Dice-K going to contribute $50 million plus to make the money back....Any of the players really.
Posted by: coryjwilson | July 04, 2009 at 02:01 AM
Just the posting fee was 51MM... The contract, in itself, was 45MM... I think you're wrong... Daisuke is probably worth that much to the Red Sox organization when you consider his popularity amongst the nation of Japan... The love affair with the Sox over there is ridiculous and it's credited to him... There is a Red Sox/Yanks rivalry in Japan because of Daisuke and Matsui...
He is, definately, worth his posting fee plus his contract...
The renewed interest in American sports ( especially the merchandise/satellite tv/tickets) is worth it without a doubt...
Not only that, but the money posted by the Red Sox helped save the Seibu Lions from financial difficulties ( if i'm not mistaken )... I don't know about you all, but i'm all for talent from all stretches of the globe... If this helps stabilize their situation and keeps them playing ball, the posting system is doing something right...
Posted by: allabouthephils | July 04, 2009 at 02:25 AM
No reports came out during the WBC about Chapman's age. He was the 2nd highest touted prospect at the WBC, had there been reports, they'd have been brought out during the WBC. Those reports never surfaced.
This was a very sketchy article. I'll take it at face value: He's 21 until some legitimate evidence comes up against. For now, it's just hearsay from back in March, when these so called "reports" never surfaced, or were never referenced, not mentioned.
Posted by: baseballismylyf4 | July 04, 2009 at 02:42 AM
"DiceK was a much more finsished project and a proven player. Also, hows DiceK doing this yr???"
Beyond winning the MVP at the WBC and then going down with an injury? He got Tazawa to sign with the Sox for less money than another team offered. Not much else.
Posted by: Little Bear | July 04, 2009 at 07:18 AM
Watching videos of him, he threw one 100 MPH fastball, and most of the pitches were fastballs at 94 or 97 MPH, with no movement at all. He throws a lot of pitches, and I would say that 70% of them are fastballs and his other pitches look like any other pitches that I have seen. I don't see what's so special about him, except that he'll throw a 100 MPH fastball, maybe every 30 pitches.
Posted by: BravesRed | July 04, 2009 at 08:35 AM
"Strasburg should have the same right to negotiate with 30 teams as Chapman."
Totally agree, but unfortunately I don't see a realistic scenario in which the draft is completely scrapped and all amateur players become free agents like in the international system.
"i really hope its not true that hes 26, it would be pretty fun to see the bidding wars and the development of him and strasburg along side and maybe someday an eventual pitchers dual of the two."
I felt the same way. You knew that someone was going to fork up huge cash for a 21-year-old lefty that can maintain a 97-100 fastball.
And the fact that he would come along at the same time as a 21-year-old college righty with a similar fastball and a hammer breaking ball is just tantalizing as a fan.
Posted by: scribbletone | July 04, 2009 at 11:48 AM
BravesRed: What was so special about Chapman is that he's a lefty who throws 100 mph!!! Now, a pitcher with that stuff @ age 21 is someone special. The thought process is that he's young and raw, his body will continue to mature and with the proper coaching to stabilize his mechanics and improve his secondary stuff that he can be special. However, at age 26 he's not as special simply because he's at a more advanced age where a lot of those issues should've been worked out already. If he 21 and takes 5 years to reach his full ace potential then he's 26...if he really is 26 then your talking about a 31 year old just coming into his own.
Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | July 04, 2009 at 11:55 AM
"Maybe Sanos is in his early 20s then. The Yankees might want to consider signing him. A shortstop maybe 3rd baseman who has Hanley Ramirezs body and Albert Pujols power. Who knows what he will accomplish but they need to start thinking about the future when it comes to the left side of the infield."
Tim, hahahhahaha, are you serious? You believe the crap his agent says? Pujols power!? You can't just label a player, especially a shortstop as the next Pujols. It is insane.
Posted by: CGon28 | July 04, 2009 at 04:28 PM