Chapman Clears Next Hurdle, Gains Residency

I'm sure you all remember the story from earlier in the year about Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman's defection while in Rotterdam, Holland. There is still time before he can sign with a Major League team, but he took the next, and biggest step towards that by established residency in Andorra, and tiny European nation between the Fench-Spanish border.

Chapman's Andorran residency clears the first and most difficult of the three major hurdles to becoming a major league free agent. Because Chapman had his passport -- an almost unheard of occurrence for a Cuban defector -- establishing residency took a fraction of the time needed for most defectors and may make him available for free agency before the playoffs begin, his agents say.

Edwin Leonel Mejia of Athletes Premier International, Chapman's agent, says his client's Andorran papers "creates a new channel for players to establish residency." Cuban defectors have historically chosen Latin American nations like the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, or Guatemala for establishing residency. By becoming a citizen of a country besides the United States, Cuban players circumvent the U.S. embargo with Cuba and slip through a major league loophole which allows players from the third-party countries to enter the lucrative free-agent market rather than be subjected to the draft, where slotting systems help to control prices.

Mejia calls Chapman's European residency "the most important baseball event" in the continent's history. Major League Baseball began an aggressive campaign to expand its reach in Europe. The Atlanta Braves, for example, opened an academy this spring in the Canary Islands.

Chapman's career record is 24-21 and he twice led the Serie Nacional, Cuba's professional league, in strikeouts. Despite the mediocre record, the money Chapman will command is expected to exceed the $32 million signing bonus the New York Yankees paid Cuban right-hander Jose Contreras, who was 31 when he joined the Yankees in 2002. Andorra's lack of income tax means Chapman will save money in his new homeland, Mejia says.

Industry sources expect big-market behemoths like the Red Sox and Yankees to open their wallets for Chapman, while one scouting director tells SI.com that Chapman projects as a middle reliever rather than a high-dollar starter. But Chapman will be in what some baseball insiders describe as a shallow free-agent pitching pool, thereby driving up his price.

With a 102 MPH fastball, if he projects as anything coming out of the bullpen it's probably as a closer. If he's anywhere close to as good as advertised I hope the Yankees make a strong run at him.