Reds sign Cuban pitcher Aroldis Chapman to 6-year, $30M deal! Who is Aroldis Chapman?
Chapman is a professional baseball player from Cuba and played on the Cuban National team!
Professional career
[edit]Defection
Chapman failed at an attempt to defect in the spring of 2008. Following the defection attempt, he was brought to Havana to meet with Cuban President Raul Castro, who gave him a conditional reprieve, suspending him for the remainder of the National Series season and also keeping him off Cuba’s national team for the Beijing Olympics, but allowing him to return to the National Series and play in the World Baseball Classic.[2]
Chapman remained determined to defect[citation needed], waiting for the best moment to arrive. He successfully defected from Cuba while in Rotterdam, Netherlands, where the Cuban national team was participating in the World Port Tournament on July 1, 2009, by walking out the front door of the team hotel and getting into a car driven by an acquaintance.[2][3] Chapman established residency in Andorra[4] and petitioned Major League Baseball to be granted free agent status.
Via:yahoo sports/espn/wikipedia
