Chapman... Beware of Dusty

If you root for a team who brings in a star from a place like Cuba or from the Far East, you have to excited about the future with that player.  The Cincinnati Reds have that luxury today was they inked Aroldis Chapman to a six year 30.6 million dollar deal according to ESPN.   Now, if I were a Reds fan I would pray to the Big Red Machine that Dusty Baker is fired as a manager before he gets his hands on Chapman. 

This guy I think with some Major League toolege will be an absolute stud and a guy I will definitely put on my fantasy baseball roster if I have a chance.  He is twenty-one years old, left-handed, 6'4, plus a wicked 100 mph fastball.  If he figures out how to control his pitches, he will be like the Cuban Wild Thing just throwing smoke. The only one from Cuba had this much potential out of the gates was Orlando Hernandez who somewhat lived up to it but never to the level we expected at the time.

The big drawbacks about Chapman in my opinion are the fact he cannot speak any English and doesn't know any baseball really.  I think the language barrier can be a huge problem for some pitcher/catcher batteries and I think you can learn a lot by just watching the game of baseball understanding what goes on and such.  But, I know people who do not like watching the sport they play or it just doesn't interest them, I feel it's more the fact he is from Cuba that he knows nothing about the Major League.

My good friend Mitch on the Daily Dose suggested how great their rotation could be and as I commented if Dusty leaves, they will be good.  Edision Volquez looked like he was ready to be the next great NL pitcher before Baker overworked him in year one, leading to Tommy John surgery. This happens time and again with Baker's pitching, look at what he did to Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. Baker overworked them throughout all of 2003, which led to their careers taking a turn for the worse.   

Baker invests way too much in his pitchers and that usually leads to bad results. I mean the year before, Aaron Harang had a hell of year but Baker continued to work him in long innings all the time. I think Baker really lives in the moment and just cares about what's going on with the current season instead of thinking what could happen in the coming years. 

-Charlie.