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HUGE Defection News


Courtesy of CubaeanCuentro (in Spanish) … 21-year old LHP Aroldis Chapman allegedly defected from the Cuban National team while they were in Holland. He reportedly walked away from the team hotel. For those who watched the WBC, Chapman was the young lefty who touched 100mph in his appearances.

Assuming it’s true, the timing of the defection means he will not make any decision on his future for at least a couple of months. As it appears the Nationals are not going to get involved in the 2009 international market, it would be a coup if they landed Chapman as part of their rebuilding process.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009, 8:00 AM and is filed under International. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

  1. #1 by Sec 204 Row H Seat 7 - July 2nd, 2009 at 08:55

    Brian,

    Is there a reason to believw he NATS would/could become involved–some prior contact?

  2. #2 by Brian Oliver - July 2nd, 2009 at 08:57

    Nothing that I am aware of. I know the Nationals had people scouting the WBC. But so did all of MLB

  3. #3 by JMUAlumni - July 2nd, 2009 at 09:44

    Wow, awesome news, although he will probably just end up on one of the big two.

  4. #4 by Ben - July 2nd, 2009 at 11:22

    The question begs as to why we won’t be involved.

  5. #5 by mjames - July 2nd, 2009 at 11:46

    Ben:

    Because we are the Nats.

  6. #6 by joNAThan - July 2nd, 2009 at 12:05

    This would be a great way to stick it to Fidel!!! Maybe the Nats can get some bailout money from the feds to sign him.

  7. #7 by Ben - July 2nd, 2009 at 12:18

    Exactly.

    So the Smiley signing, our only signing, has derailed all knowledge of our international scouting, and destroyed our entire ability to sign international prospects. What is this organisation made of? Straw?

    It’s the same nonsense you hear about our money being tied up in Strasburg. We are the most profitable team in baseball, can’t we squeeze a little cash out to rebuild ourselves? Is one prospect worth that? The answers to anyone who has followed baseball for more than five minutes are of course yes, and no subsequently.

  8. #8 by JMUAlumni - July 2nd, 2009 at 12:25

    Brian, any stabs at how much Chapman will likely command when the bidding starts?

  9. #9 by Scooter - July 2nd, 2009 at 12:31

    Brian, any chance you might elaborate on your point about timing? I would have assumed that defectors pick their spots based on when they have an opportunity to get away. I guess that an elite player like Chapman could be a touch more sophisticated about it, though. I’m just wondering what else might factor into the decision.

  10. #10 by Brian Oliver - July 2nd, 2009 at 12:36

    JMU – Jorge Arangure has it pegged between $30-60M (Contreras got 4yr/$32M when he defected).

    Scooter – What I was trying to say was that it’s going to be several months before he hits the market. Likely in the off-season.

  11. #11 by souldrummer - July 2nd, 2009 at 12:50

    $30-60M? No way, no way. All we can hope for is that he goes American League rather than National League. Our organization doesn’t bid competitively for top drawer talent.

  12. #12 by Mark - July 2nd, 2009 at 14:16

    I wonder who will bid, other than the Red Sox and Yankees….

  13. #13 by chima - July 2nd, 2009 at 19:30

    he def will get more than strasburg.

  14. #14 by Jeff E. - July 5th, 2009 at 15:15

    The Nats are owned by a lawyer. things played close to the vest.

  15. #15 by VladiHondo - July 6th, 2009 at 08:22

    Latest word – he might be 26, not 21, can be had cheap! Since he can throw so hard, and is wild, he’d be perfect to step right in as our closer.

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