Aroldis Chapman, the 21-year-old flame-throwing Cuban left-hander who defected during the summer, arrived in New York yesterday and is expected to meet with several teams over the next week. The Mets, Yankees and Red Sox are among the teams expected to have interest in signing him.
Chapman, who established residency in Andorra after defecting while playing in the World Port Tournament in The Netherlands in July, was declared a free agent last month. He should find himself in a similar situation to that of Jose Contreras, who became the subject of a fierce bidding war between the Yankees and Red Sox back in 2002. Contreras wound up with a four-year, $32 million contract from the Yankees that winter, which is expected to be a baseline in contract talks with Chapman.
The Mets were one of two teams that have had scouts see Chapman, whose fastball has been clocked at around 100 mph. Chapman, who has been working out in Barcelona, Spain, after his defection, also played for Cuba in this year’s World Baseball Classic, going 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA. In 6 1/3 innings, Chapman allowed four runs on six hits, struck out eight and walked four.