Aroldis Chapman was a P who played for the New York Yankees from 2016-2022. Career stats: 24-14 record, 2.94 ERA, 453 strikeouts.
Aroldis Chapman was the hardest-throwing closer in baseball history, a Cuban left-hander who spent parts of seven seasons closing games for the New York Yankees -- first for half of 2016, then for a full six-year stretch from 2017 through 2022 after the strangest offseason move Brian Cashman ever pulled off. He racked up 153 saves in pinstripes, made three All-Star teams as a Yankee, and somehow got traded away and re-signed within the same calendar year (yes, really). Buckle up.
Path to the Bronx
Chapman defected from the Cuban national team in Rotterdam in July 2009, walking out of a hotel and into a waiting car. Six months later he signed a six-year, $30.25 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds, and that September he threw a pitch that still holds up as a Guinness World Record: 105.1 mph on the stadium gun (105.8, per Statcast's later reconstruction), the fastest pitch ever recorded in a major league game. He wasn't wearing pinstripes yet. He was just breaking radar guns for fun in Cincinnati.
That fastball came to the Bronx on Dec. 28, 2015, when the Reds traded him for four prospects. The move came with real baggage -- police had investigated Chapman for a domestic violence incident that October, and MLB suspended him 30 games that March under its then-new policy, the first player disciplined under it. Prosecutors filed no charges. Chapman didn't appeal the suspension. He served it and came back in May throwing just as hard as before.
Gone, Then Back
At the July 25, 2016 deadline, with the Yankees fading in the AL East, Cashman shipped Chapman to the Cubs for a package headlined by Gleyber Torres. Chapman helped Chicago break its 108-year World Series drought that October. Then, that December, the Yankees turned around and signed him back as a free agent for five years and $86 million (imagine breaking up with someone, watching them win a title with somebody else, and getting back together five months later). The "rental" ended up costing the Yanks a five-year contract and getting them a future All-Star shortstop in the same breath. Not a bad winter's work.
Yankees Career
| Yankees Seasons | 7 (2016, 2017--2022) |
| Record | 24-14 |
| ERA | 2.94 |
| Saves | 153 |
| Strikeouts | 453 (294.1 IP) |
| WHIP | 1.15 |
| All-Star Seasons | 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Postseason | 17 G, 6 SV, 1.71 ERA |
His best year in pinstripes was 2019: 37 saves, a 2.21 ERA, and the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award -- an honor that meant something extra, closing games from the same mound Mo once owned. It wasn't all trophies, though. That same October, Chapman hung a slider to Jose Altuve in the ninth inning of ALCS Game 6, and Altuve turned it into a walk-off two-run homer that sent Houston to the World Series and ended New York's season. (Astros fans remember it fondly. Yankees fans do not.)
At the end of the day, he wasn't at the workout. I made the decision based on a lot of things and thought to leave him off because I thought that was the right thing to do for our club at the time.
Key Moments
Traded to the Yankees
Cincinnati sends Chapman to New York for four prospects, days before MLB opens its domestic violence investigation into an October incident.
Traded to the Cubs
The Yankees deal Chapman to Chicago at the deadline as part of a fire sale that lands Gleyber Torres in the Bronx.
Re-Signs with the Yankees
Fresh off a World Series ring with the Cubs, Chapman returns to New York on a five-year, $86 million contract.
Altuve's ALCS Walk-Off
Chapman surrenders a game-ending, series-clinching two-run homer to Jose Altuve in 2019 ALCS Game 6, a 6-4 loss that sends Houston to the World Series.
Left Off the ALDS Roster
Chapman misses a mandatory workout, and Boone leaves him off New York's postseason roster in his final year in pinstripes.
The Ending Wasn't Pretty
The 2022 season was a mess almost from the start -- a tattoo-related leg infection cost him time in August, his ERA ballooned to 4.46, and Clay Holmes took over the ninth inning. Then, four days before the ALDS, Chapman skipped a mandatory workout, claiming he had permission to stay at his Miami-area home. Aaron Boone left him off the roster anyway, and the Yankees didn't bring him back for 2023.
It's a sour final chapter for a guy who threw 105 mph, saved 153 games in pinstripes, and got traded away and signed right back like the front office couldn't decide if it wanted him gone. Turns out they mostly did want him -- just not forever.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the Yankees trade Aroldis Chapman and then sign him back?
Yes. The Yankees traded Chapman to the Chicago Cubs at the July 25, 2016 deadline for a package built around Gleyber Torres. Chapman won the World Series with Chicago that fall, then re-signed with New York that December for five years and $86 million.
What was Aroldis Chapman's best season with the Yankees?
- Chapman went 3-2 with 37 saves and a 2.21 ERA in 60 appearances and won the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award.
Does Aroldis Chapman hold the Yankees single-season saves record?
No -- that record belongs to Mariano Rivera, who saved 53 games in 2004. Chapman's best single season with the Yankees was 37 saves in 2019.
Why did the Yankees leave Aroldis Chapman off the 2022 ALDS roster?
Chapman missed a mandatory pre-ALDS workout in October 2022, saying he believed he had permission to remain at his home near Miami. Manager Aaron Boone left him off the postseason roster, and the Yankees didn't re-sign him for 2023.
What happened when Aroldis Chapman faced Jose Altuve in the 2019 ALCS?
Chapman allowed a two-run, walk-off home run to Altuve in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the 2019 ALCS, a 6-4 Yankees loss that sent the Houston Astros to the World Series.
Traded away, won a ring somewhere else, signed right back like nothing happened -- that's the Chapman file in one sentence. The fastball was always the fastball. It's just that in the Bronx, the ending mattered more than the velocity ever did.
Career Stats
Regular Season
| Year | G | GS | W | L | SV | IP | H | ER | K | BB | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 55 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 51.1 | 24 | 14 | 93 | 30 | 2.45 | 1.05 |
| 2019 | 60 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 37 | 57.0 | 38 | 14 | 85 | 25 | 2.21 | 1.11 |
| 2020 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11.2 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 4 | 3.09 | 0.86 |
| 2021 | 61 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 56.1 | 36 | 21 | 97 | 38 | 3.36 | 1.31 |
| 2022 | 43 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 36.1 | 24 | 18 | 43 | 28 | 4.46 | 1.43 |
| Career | 315 | 0 | 24 | 14 | 153 | 294.1 | 185 | 96 | 453 | 153 | 2.94 | 1.15 |
Career-best seasons highlighted in gold. Stats via Retrosheet.
Postseason
| Year | G | GS | W | L | SV | IP | H | ER | K | BB | ERA | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 6 | -- | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1.13 | -- |
| 2018 | 3 | -- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.00 | -- |
| 2019 | 5 | -- | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5.1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 3.38 | -- |
| 2020 | 3 | -- | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 1.93 | -- |
| Career | 17 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 21.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00 |