Mets Do Not Sign Aroldis Chapman
Highly touted lefthanded flamethrower Aroldis Chapman has signed with the Cincinnati Reds for $30M over 5 years.
The 21-year-old Cuban defector had been likened to #1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg in terms of age, skill set, and peak potential, and wound up receiving double the money Strasburg received. Strasburg, of course, did not have the benefit of negotiating a deal from all 30 teams.
The Mets were never much of a factor in the Chapman bidding. Like fellow countryman Noel Arguelles, I’m not sure the pressure-cooker environment of New York City would be the best place for a very young defector to begin his pitching career and life in the United States.
Does that mean the Mets can never sign a talented young ballplayer? Of course not, but right now, an athlete with Chapman’s skills would immediately be tabbed as some kind of a savior to a struggling, high profile franchise such as the Mets. There are few young men who can handle that kind of pressure from the fans and media while also adjusting to life in the USA. Look no further than the expectations hoisted upon the shoulders of 20-year-old Fernando Martinez to get an idea of what someone like Chapman or Arguelles would have to endure. Then, remember that F-Mart has been in the organization for a few years, and had the opportunity to adjust to pro ball and the US while the Mets were doing well — i.e., no one was in a rush to get Martinez to the bigs as long as the team was winning with Beltran, Delgado, Wright, Reyes, etc. in place. Today, though, the Mets are coming off their worst record in a half-decade, have little in the way of prospects, and are desperate for quality pitching. There would be pressure not only a young stud like Chapman or Arguelles to do well, but there would also be pressure on the Mets front office — specifically Omar Minaya — to rush him up to the big leagues (see: Pelfrey, Mike).
Maybe I didn’t make clear my argument. The fact that Chapman already has the weight of his defection on his mind makes ANYTHING he has to do that much more difficult. So, pile on learning a new language. Pile on a new country, where you may not have any trustworthy friends close to you at the outset. Pile on a new job, including new people who have new expectations and processes thrust upon you. Pile on the responsibility that goes with a multimillion-dollar contract. Pretty high pile so far, and we didn’t get into the factor of the big stage yet.
You may be right — playing a game or dealing with media is a heckuva lot easier than leaving Cuba. But, you are separating the two as if they were different rooms on the opposite sides of a building. Just because Chapman is out of Cuba does not mean thinking about, or dealing with, his defection is over. He still has family and friends back there, does he not? He still will be thinking about them and their safety, won’t he?
Perhaps baseball will be his “release”, where he doesn’t have to think about all that. But what if his focus is split when he’s on the field? What if he already has enough on his mind, and the added weight of constant media attention proved too much for him to handle?
But that was only half of my argument. Even if he wasn’t from Cuba, I’d think that someone with his skills would be rushed to MLB by a GM and manager who are fighting for their jobs — which was why I brought up Pelfrey, who has yet to fulfill his potential after being forced to the parent club before he developed consistent command and an off-speed pitch.
Case in point: Let’s say you are diagnosed with cancer, and spend months in chemo getting radiation treatment. Your hair falls out, you feel weak and nauseous constantly, and you lose 50 pounds. But you beat the cancer. 2 years later you are then diagnosed with diabetes. Well, you may say that nothing is scarier to deal with than cancer, and so being diagnosed with diabetes is no sweat. But that’s a ridiculous arguement, because diabetes impacts your life on many levels and is just as life-threatening as cancer if not properly taken care of. The same thing applies to Chapman’s ordeal. Yes, defecting is a very traumatic undertaking, but that doesn’t mean that he is then prepared to successfully handle every other difficult aspect in life without batting an eye. The two are not connected. Don’t be so naive.