Aroldis Chapman will be one of the most talked-about free agents of the offseason, and he hasn’t even played in a major league game. The southpaw Cuban defector with a high-90’s fastball, currently residing in Europe while clearing up paperwork that will bring him to the United States and unite him with the millions of dollars some club will pay him, will probably get bids from at least 5 major league teams: the Yankees (of course), the Red Sox, the Orioles, the Angels, and the Rangers. It seems to me the Rangers and the Orioles have their hat in just about every free agent bidding war, but they never come remotely close to signing an A-list star when the competition is tight.

The early reports are that the Orioles actually have the inside track on Chapman. The Orioles have had a strong relationship with Cuban players and have even played 2 exhibitions against the Cuban national team. Of course, in the real world money talks, and the Orioles have made strong indications that they won’t getting into a bidding war with the Red Sox and Yankees, both of whom are willing to spend tens of millions of dollars more on top free agents. Chapman might like the atmosphere in Baltimore, but his agent has said he’ll sign with the team that “wants him the most”, which is pretty much the same thing as saying “show me the money”.

We all know the Rangers aren’t going to win the Chapman sweepstakes, because there are bigger teams with more money to burn who are interested in him. Right now we can only hope that the Angels don’t grab him. That, or we can hope Tom Hicks sells the team to a billionaire oil man with pockets so deep he doesn’t care how much money he loses on a silly little baseball club. Hey, a man can dream, can’t he?

Tags: aroldis chapman, baseball, cuban, free agent, pitcher, texas rangers