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Aroldis Chapman
In an unexpected move that flew under the radar of baseball fans and media alike, the Boston Red Sox have agreed to a one-year deal with fireballing, Cuban-born left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman. The signing, the team’s first major free agent deal of this offseason, was first reported by Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo of MassLive on his X (formerly Twitter) account. ESPN Major League insider Jeff Passan then confirmed the signing.
On his own account, Passan wrote, “Left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman and the Boston Red Sox are in agreement on a one-year, $10.75 million contract, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. Boston sought left-handed help for its bullpen and lands the 36-year-old Chapman.”
Chapman himself then confirmed, or appeared to confirm, that he will join the Red Sox, posting the two word message “Let’s go!” on his own social media, along with a photo of himself wearing a Red Sox cap and petting a dog.
Chapman Joins Fifth Team in Four Seasons
The 36-year old southpaw, who will turn 37 in February prior to the 2025 MLB season, will be entering his 16th season and playing for his eighth different team, and fifth team in four seasons. He pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2024, and divided time between the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers in 2023 after completing his sixth full season with the New York Yankees in 2022.
In 2016, Chapman was part of the Chicago Cubs’ first World Series championship team since 1908. In the 2016 postseason for the Cubs, Chapman appeared in five games with one save and one win, allowing three earned runs in 7 2/3 innings pitched.
Throughout his career Chapman has been known for one aspect his game: velocity. In his rookie season of 2010, while with the Cincinnati Reds, Chapman was clocked throwing the fastest pitch ever recorded, at 105.8 mph. Chapman also owns the second-fastest pitch ever clocked, a 105.7 mph fastball thrown in 2016.
In 2024, even at age 36, Chapman threw a back-to-back pitches timed at 105.1 and 105.7 mph on the Statcast system.
Cuban-Born Lefty Has Been a Polarizing Figure
Nonetheless, Chapman has long been a polarizing figure both for his inconsistency on the mound and his controversy off the field. In 2016 while still with the Yankees, Chapman was suspended by MLB for 30 games over an alleged domestic violence incident. According to an MLB.com report, “Chapman allegedly choked his 22-year-old girlfriend, Cristina Barnea, and fired eight shots in the garage of his Davie, Fla., home.”
The reliever never faced charges, however. “Prosecutors announced that they had decided not to prosecute the hard-throwing left-hander, citing conflicting accounts and insufficient evidence that would have made a conviction unlikely,” MLB.com reported at the time.
Reaction among Red Sox fans to the Chapman signing was mixed. Thomas Carrieri, who runs a leading Red Sox fan X account with more than 86,000 followers wrote, “The Red Sox bullpen will feature arguably the most likable reliever in baseball with Liam Hendriks and the least likable in Aroldis Chapman.”
“NOT HAPPY,” wrote another Red Sox fan account.
The Red Sox have tabbed the affable Hendriks, a native of Australia, as a possibility to move into the closer’s spot, event though he missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist and writer who now covers baseball and other sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Press Association awards for sports feature writing. Vankin is also the author of five nonfiction books on a variety of topics, as well as nine graphic novels including most recently “Last of the Gladiators” published by Dynamite Entertainment. More about Jonathan Vankin