Aroldis Chapman first burst onto the international scene when he showed his stuff at the WBC and Cuban National Series. Although Chapman didn’t dominate in either competition, scouts saw his ridiculous fastball and impressive breaking ball. Like many top Cuban prospects, Chapman defected and then established residence in Europe so that he could cement his free agent status instead of being subject to the draft. The move paid off as Chapman was signed by the Reds for what is believed to be five years at around $25 million. That solid investment by Cincinnati — they outbid teams like the Angels, Red Sox, and Blue Jays supposedly — seems like it could pay off as early as this year.

Making his Sprint Training debut on Monday, Chapman pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three against the Royals. Even more impressive is the report from USA Today that Chapman touched 102mph on the radar gun. Three of his pitches were clocked at 100mph or higher. While Chapman has some control issues and throwing hard doesn’t guarantee success, it sure makes it easier. Recall the examples of Justin Verlander, Randy Johnson, and Jonathan Broxton — all three have touched triple digits and have had tremendous success in the majors because they can blow hitters away consistently. Guys like Kyle Farnsworth can throw hard and get lit up but having a 100mph fastball is a tool that most people don’t have, thereby making it much easier to succeed.

Initial reports suggests Chapman would spend some time in the majors to hone his skills before going straight to The Show. If he continues to dominate like this, there wouldn’t be much of a reason to hold Arolids back. For all we’re hearing about Stephen Strasburg, Chapman is another pitcher we may have to keep just as close of an eye on.

(bonus video of Chapman’s outing below)

Sources:
Reds’ Chapman Tosses Two Scoreless in Reds Debut [Hardball Talk]
Reds’ Aroldis Chapman solid, tops out at 102 mph in debut [USA Today]

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Phillies All-Star outfielder Jayson Werth caused a mini-stir by showing up to Spring Training in Clearwater, Florida sporting shaggy hair and a long beard to match. Phillies beat writer Todd Zolecki of Phillies.com shared a few pictures of Werth in his most recent post. Here’s the new version of Johnny Damon — Jayson Werth and his beard:

That sure is an impressive beauty and it looks like it took all off-season to grow. What’s even more jarring is comparing the bearded Werth picture to one of him when he was drafted by the Orioles. The 700 Level tracked the evolution of Werth’s face and it is priceless. Now if you’re wondering why Werth has the bearded look, here’s his answer: “I think everybody knows the situation. It’s no secret.” Thanks Jayson, like that helps. If I get any more information I’ll be sure to pass it along.

You have to love the way MLB came out and patted itself on the back this weekend. I can’t be certain that MLB is responsible for the article hitting the Associate Press, but I do know that they took a “preemptive strike” against weapons in clubhouses. From the AP:

Signs have been placed in spring training locker rooms stating “individuals are prohibited from possessing deadly weapons while performing any services for MLB.” The rules apply to employees of the commissioner’s office, other central baseball businesses and to teams, including players.

Bravo MLB, bravo. Way to respond to the Plaxico Burress and Gilbert Arenas situations responsibly. Actually, this has every bit as much to do with the Players Association as it does the commissioner’s office; the MLBPA didn’t allow drug testing in the sport until recently but they made concessions here. At least baseball is doing the right thing here so I should not give them too much crap. Still, it’s strange that it took 15 years to semi-properly address steroids but it didn’t take two months to lay down the law when it comes to guns.

One offseason question has persisted since the Hot Stove and lasted until Spring Training, amazingly enough: where will Johnny Damon sign? The Yankees made it clear that they weren’t willing to overspend to keep both aging sluggers Damon and Hideki Matsui, allowing each player to become a free agent. Godzilla signed with the Angels and Damon signed with the … well, let’s just say he hasn’t been Scott Boras’ top priority. You would think the market for Johnny Damon would be suitable considering he can swing a strong stick but his asking price for the Yankees was too high and his reported insistence on a two-year deal supposedly has limited his options. The one team we’ve heard willing to offer Damon a two-year deal is Detroit. Boras even said Damon was going to sign … last week. So what’s the hold up?

It has now become apparent that Boras is trying to use the Tigers to leverage the White Sox into offering Damon a better contract. A potential bidding war seems quite reasonable considering the teams are division rivals but it appears as if the White Sox aren’t playing along. So why hasn’t Damon simply settled things by signing with the Tigers? Ken Rosenthal says the Damons, specifically Johnny’s wife, Michelle, aren’t interested in living in Detroit for two years. Rosenthal’s initial report claimed that Detroit wasn’t cosmopolitan enough for Michelle (that part has since been deleted) which makes some sense considering Johnny has played in New York the past four years. In an attempt to try and get the White Sox engaged in a bidding war or to simply defend his manhood, Damon told Jon Heyman that it’s up to him and his wife will go where he goes. I still say Boras and Damon are stupid for not taking the Yankees offer even if it means a few less millions. Isn’t that the best situation for Johnny? Or is max dollars the only goal here? Better question: if Michelle were your wife, would you let her wear the pants?

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Jose Offerman attacked someone on a baseball field. Yes, two years ago while playing for the Long Island Ducks, Offerman attacked an opposing team’s pitcher who hit him as retaliation for Offerman homering in a previous at-bat. This time around, Offerman who manages the Licey Tigers, was upset his catcher Ronny Paulino was thrown out for arguing balls and strikes. Offerman came out of the dugout to protest with home plate umpire Jason Bradley but wound up getting into it with first base umpire Daniel Rayburn instead. Offerman threw a punch at Rayburn who appeared to flop. Check out the Jose Offerman punch video:

What this guy was doing anywhere near a baseball field following his Long Island Ducks incident is beyond me. And I don’t care how soft of a punch that was — just look at Jose afterwards and tell me he wasn’t looking for a fight with those clenched fists. I doubt Rayburn presses charges but it’s pretty clear Offerman should be suspended from the league for his actions. By the way, bonus points to the announcer at the end of the video for saying what he thought Offerman told the umpire. Guess they don’t have any FCC rules there.

(video via Vin Scully is my homeboy and Dodger Thoughts)

In a mere matter of weeks, the Seattle Mariners have gone from pretty good team to legit AL West contender. First they signed Chone Figgins to play third base over Adrian Beltre, which is an even stronger addition considering they plucked him from the defending division champion Angels. Next, Seattle came out of nowhere to acquire Cliff Lee from the Phillies for prospects. Their latest impressive move came on Friday when they shipped useless Carlos Silva and the remaining $25 million on his contract to the Cubs for disgruntled outfielder Milton Bradley and the remaining $21 million on his deal. The Cubs really screwed themselves on this one because they overpaid for Bradley and were stuck with his deal. Even if Milton’s a headache, at least he’s a much better player than Silva and he can help your team win. Or, as LBS contributor Alan said, “At worst, say Bradley kills Ichiro, they cut Milton and send him to jail BUT wouldn’t lose any more money than having Silva on the roster.” Exactly. Seattle can’t lose with this because they already wasted the money on Silva. So … the million dollar question is: how long will Milton last in Seattle?

a) Both years and he’ll play like the All-Star he was in Texas
b) Both years but he’ll be limited by injuries like usual
c) One year but the team won’t want him around next year
d) Injury or bonehead move knocks him out midseason
e) He murders Ichiro prior to Opening Day and goes to jail

Just remember, the fun part is there is no right or wrong answer!