Roch Kubatko reports yesterday and today about Oriole interest in Aroldis Chapman, the 21 year old Cuban lefthander- said to be one of the top pitching prospects available...fastball at times clocked at 102 mph...
It appears there are many teams interested with the usual suspects most prominent...Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Cubs, Angels leading the discussions, though the Orioles, Jays, As, Cards are also mentioned in different articles...
Estimates are that they are looking for a guaranteed major league deal at 30-45 million dollars for five years...pretty pricey and pretty risky.
I doubt seriously that the Orioles are going to be players (or should be) if the price is in that category...but, he would certainly could be a prize addition if we could make it happen.
I was bothered somewhat by Stockstill's refusal to meet or exceed the 3.15 million offered by the Twins that landed Miguel Sano, the 16 year old Dominican shortstop...i think this one may really come back to haunt us down the road...
Stockstill also decided that the Orioles would not be in the discussions with Yusei Kikuchi, lefthanded pitcher out of high school in Japan, though it seems that he is going to stay in Japan despite being courted by eight MLB teams....

What are your thoughts about the Os pursuit and development of international players and John Stockstill's performance thus far?...

Well I am still very disapointed that they didn't sign Sano. And I wonder if their interest has intensified since the 18 year old Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi announce that he would stay in Japan. But, from the video that I have seen on You Tube of Chapman tells me that he has the build to pitch at a high level for a long time. He has good mechanics to go along with his long arms. And most of all he has serious movement to go along with his plus plus fastball. So, I think he is worth 40 to 60 million.

I have a feeling this is going to follow the O's normal routine....

1 Hype up their interest in a player to local media
2 Submit an offer that they already know is 70-80% of offers made by other teams
3 Walk away absolutely shocked that they lost out again, then complain some more about salary caps and competitive balance

The O's have already identified Chapman as a player worth pursuing. If they lowball a laughable offer, it's because they're cheap not because they can't keep up.

For wahat it's worth the O's met with Chapman yesterday.

www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bal-aroldis-chapman-orioles-1030,0,1850254.story

The Orioles weren't even willing to spend a miniscule $3.15 million on Miguel Angel Sano so what makes anyone think they'll spend any money on Aroldis Chapman? I don't know how much longer I can root for this team.

Well....... Sano is only 16 years old. He is unproven. Chapman is 21 years old. He is proven himself in the WBC and has played pro ball in Cuba. Also MacPhail is obviously a pitching guy. Those are reasons they might offer Chapman the money.

The Orioles have lots of money and have spent very little of it. We don't have any impact middle infield prospects to speak of and this team couldn't even spend a little over $3 million on Sano? That's chump change in this business. Do you think the Orioles will still be in the thick of things when the bidding for Chapman get's around $40-$60 million? I hope so, but I doubt it.

I doubt seriously the bidding will reach anywhere close to that figure. A lot of so called experts were saying that the Strasberg price would reach those heights and what did he sign for.... 15 or so mil and he had the Big $$$$ guru rep'n him.

You're right, quite obviously if the Twins can afford the $3 million we can too. That said, I really think that the Sano and Chapman discussions are apples and oranges. Quite frankly, I'd have been MUCH happier to see them give Sano $4 million (and maybe see him again in five years or so when he's in the mid/upper minors) than Chapman $40 million. But, that said, the state of the Orioles organization is MUCH better than it was three, five and even ten years ago, and we need to keep that in mind. You're right that they have money to spend at some point, and if it's not this offseason then we have to assume it's next. (there's really not a whole lot in terms of top-tier free agents out there - i like Johnson well enough on a two-year deal or something like that, and there are a few other guys our there who might make some sense, but we'll have a lot better idea of what we need long-term after this season than before it) then we have to assume it's next. I know the obvious retort here is that it's "always next year" that we'll be spending the money, but i'd implore those inclined to use that retort to use their brains a little bit in terms of where the O's are in their rebuilding process. We NEED to see what Jones will be this year (in order to determine if he's really the future of the organization in center), we need to see what Pie will do (if he's not traded), we need another year of Reimold, we need another year for Bell and Snyder to work through the organization, and most importantly we really need another year of development and adjustment for Matusz, Bergesen, Tillman and the rest of our flock of young pitchers. We're moving the right direction and will win more games in 2010 than we did in 2009 with a very young team, that's a good thing.