Aroldis Chapman was Cliff Lee before Cliff Lee became Cliff Lee

A tantalizing twat (is that correct past tense?) from a Sports Illustrated twitterbird claims the Yankees two years ago offered international man of mystery Aroldis Chapman -- the Cuban multi-aged lefty -- $54 million -- nearly twice as much as he eventually signed for with Cinncinati. ($30 M).

It's part of a Florida lawsuit against the pitcher's agent, and -- considering that it's just a twat (jeez, that doens't sound right) there's not much more in terms of details.

Could be smoke and mirrors. Chapman, if I remember correctly, had more dark ages than Germany. At one point, they claimed he was 19, and the Yanks were on him like lice on an Arizona Diamondback. Their $54 M offer probably came then. When they later counted his annular rings, we might have cheesed it. Dunno. Pure speculation. Hey, it's spring training. Don't want speculation? Don't follow baseball.

But if it's not smoke and mirrors, it could be the kind the treachery that requires Yankee fans to go Egyptian on the system -- Hit the streets! Stop commerce! Bring down The Man on Maggie's Farm! Because if these tin can agents steered Chapman to Cinncinati for another reason -- like bribes, hint, wink, hint -- somebody ought to have his dental records revoked. (Whoops. I forgot it's Florida, where they don't have teeth.) Because we can always use a 23-year-old lefty. Chapman is one of the best pitching prospects in the game, and I never could figure out why we were such cheapo nerd-bastards in those negotiations. Now, we know. Or at least we know why we don't know.