Aroldis Chapman wants $40 million. The Yankees shouldn't give it to him.
The 6-foot-4 Cuban defector with the supposed 102-mph fastball was a guest of the Yankees at their Game 6 win in the ALCS over the Angels on Sunday, as Brian Cashman and Co. tried to make their sales pitch to the most-coveted foreign free agent since Daisuke Matsuzaka.
And while Chapman might turn into the front-end starter that scouts and front offices dream about, the Yankees should let some other team find out.
This offseason, John Lackey headlines a free-agent class of pitching that also includes Jose Contreras — the original Chapman with stuff supposedly never seen before by major leaguers. The type of stuff that translates into immediate success, but not long-term success. You know, the type of stuff that Matsuzaka has.
The Yankees have already been down this road before with foreign pitching prospects.
They went down it with Hideki Irabu in 1997 for $12.8 million. They went down it with Contreras in the winter of 2002. And they thought they found Matsuzaka's counterpart with Kei Igawa in 2007.
Instead they got themselves "a fat [expletive] toad" in Irabu. They got a Bronx bust they ended up trading away at the 2004 deadline in Contreras. And they got a $46-million Triple-A All-Star, who wears sunglasses when he pitches, in Igawa. That translates to 0-for-3.
The only time the Yankees got the pitcher they hoped for was when they inked Orlando Hernandez to a four-year, $6.6 million deal prior to the 1998 season. And "El Duque" certainly lived up to the hype, producing a 9-2 postseason record and three rings for the Yankees. But Chapman will cost the Yankees over six times the amount they paid for Hernandez, and he has pitched exactly zero innings in the majors.
Right now the Yankees have bigger issues to deal with, like figuring out how they are going to knock off the defending world champions in the Fall Classic. But judging by reports out of New York, Chapman is clearly at or near the top of their off-field agenda.
Following this season, the Yankees will return CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to their starting rotation. Phil Hughes will go into spring training as a starter, and Joba Chamberlain's long-term role is clearly undecided at this point. A 27th world championship in New York will likely mean the retirement of Andy Pettitte, though he too could be back. Alfredo Aceves and Chad Gaudin would both make viable options for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, and the Yankees still have the option of bringing back Chien-Ming Wang, even if it is for a minuscule amount given his 2009 struggles and recent shoulder surgery.
The farm system has been replenished by the Cashman regime with George Steinbrenner no longer calling every shot, and the days of relying on Darrell Rasner, Sidney Ponson or Tim Redding are long gone. For the near future, pitching isn't a problem for the Yankees.
If Cashman and Co. are worried about their staff going into 2010, then why not make a run at Lackey or a second-tier starter with some sort of big-league experience. For $40 million, the Yankees could be halfway to inking a proven ace with postseason credibility in Lackey, or they could use that money and work to retain Johnny Damon or go hard after Chone Figgins to play left field. But to use $40 million on an unproven prospect should be a dead trend by now, and the last thing the Yankees need is for history to repeat itself.
Irabu spent most of his time in the majors making the walk of shame back to the dugout and forgetting to cover first base in spring-training games.
Contreras spent the majority of his time in New York as the poster boy for inconsistency before losing all of the Yankees' trust.
Igawa spent nearly no time at all in the Big Apple, but did spend the last three years hanging out with Michael, Jim, Pam, Dwight and the Nard Dog in Scranton. Though I'm not sure how you spend $20 million in Scranton, Pa.
And for $40 million, it's not worth finding out if Chapman will spend his time pitching in the American League or the Eastern League.
Thanks, but no thanks.
