In the MLB.com article on Aroldis Chapman's workout at Baseball USA in Houston, Ed Wade positively gushed - and the Astros were there "in force":
"The kid's got a great arm. He's a physical specimen. He's left-handed. He throws hard. Obviously, anybody would be interested in an arm like this. He's got some great stuff. The early feedback from our guys, and everybody else, is he's a tremendous talent. It was important for us to be out here, being in our backyard. I have seen lots of side sessions over 33 years. You judge guys by their bodies of work and scouts who have seen guys multiple times in competition. If we were going to get involved with a guy like this, we'd make sure we had a lot of information and not just something based on a side session."
So all that's to say: He's big. He throws hard. With his left arm. But we're still not sure.
Update: Chapman at one point was represented by API. Now he's represented by the Houston-based Hendricks Brothers (maybe you remember them from Clemens' days). Jorge Arangure, who has been all over the Chapman story - from defection to residency in Andorra (which Joe Buck hilariously referred to during the playoffs as an island) to his free agency, is reporting that API is suing the Hendricks Brothers for interfering with API's representation of Chapman.
According to Arangure:
(Chapman's former agent) Edwin Mejia said API found evidence that an employee of Hendricks contacted Chapman with the intent of having him breach his contract, and that API will try to recoup hundreds of thousands in expenses, the expected commission and damages.
Why are we talking about this? Because (a) it's interesting, and (b) affects the standing of the Houston-based agents.
It's also worth noting that the Red Sox are the only team to have reportedly offered a deal - $15.5 million - to Chapman.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
