Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Miguel Angel Sano & Arnoldis Chapman

Two players in the words of Eddie Murphy are "Coming to America".

Miguel Angel Sano, Signed $3.15 million bonus with Minnesota Twins today
That signing bonus should speak for itself as it's the 2nd largestMLB international signing in history (Michael Ynoa, A's) Ynoa is 16, was born in the Dominican, and plays shortstop. As he grows, many players expect him to be a 3B. Scouting reports compare him to Hanley Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez so he has some big shoes to fill. He should start at single A next Spring Training. Thumbs up on small market team grabbing him.

Arnoldis Chapman, Free Agent
A 22 year old Cuban defector now resides in Andorra and will be the hottest free agent this month. Known as a left-handed Stephen Strasburg, is sure to make an impact immediately in MLB. He's eligible to sign right now, but I think the big market teams will wait until early November to make their offers even his agent would like to done as soon as possible. Due to his age and the dying market for free agent pitchers this year (Lackey, Wolf, Piniero) there will be a bidding war. He has Yankee written all over him as most small market teams can't swallow the risk of a 4yr/35-40 million dollar contract. Will he be an Ichiro or an Igawa? Only time will tell.