The Yankees reportedly viewed young Cuban fireballer Aroldis Chapman as a luxury that wouldn’t figure in their plans until 2011 at the earliest, a perception that led the 21-year-old to sign with the Cincinnati Reds.
In an MLB.com story documenting the courtship of Chapman, Mark Sheldon writes, “Many teams, such as the Red Sox and Yankees, were indicating to (agent Randy) Hendricks they viewed Chapman as mostly a luxury. Boston, which had recently signed free agent John Lackey, already had a stocked pitching staff. So did the Yankees. Clubs like these viewed Chapman as part of their big league plans — in 2011 or ’12.
“The Reds presented themselves as a younger club that could provide a chance for Chapman to pitch in the Majors in 2010.”
Chapman signed a six-year, $30 million deal with the Reds this week.
“So here’s the metaphor I used when teams expressed concern this would be for just the highest bidder, like New York or Boston,” Hendricks says in the story. “‘If I had a great first baseman from Cuba, do you think I’d call the St. Louis Cardinals first?’ We wanted opportunity. We would like to put him in a system where he’d have an opportunity to emerge sooner.”
Hendricks revealed that the A’s, were the runners-up for Chapman. The third-place club wasn’t revealed, but like the Reds and Oakland, Hendricks said it was a team with a losing record in 2009, possibly Toronto or Washington.