Aroldis Chapman Signs With Kansas City Royals, Officially Ending A Mixed Tenure With The New York Yankees

From 1995 through 2013, Mariano Rivera compiled 652 saves in regular season 1,106 appearances and upon taking the closer’s role in 1997, the Yankees were set for the duration of his career.

While other teams constantly shuffled through closers, other than injured list stints and the final five months of the 2012 season, the Yankees never faced life without Rivera on a consistent basis until 2014 – the year after his retirement.

Since Rivera’s final appearance, 33 pitchers combined to record 387 saves, including those of the three-inning variety in blowout wins. Most prominent among the various names was Aroldis Chapman, who reportedly will sign a one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals for a base salary of $3 million with an extra $4 million in various performance bonuses.

Chapman made around $100 million in seven and a half seasons with the Yankees, who obtained him from Cincinnati in December 2015 due a domestic violence incident that resulted in a 30-game suspension at the start of the 2016 season. His half-season with the Yankees was effective enough that the Cubs gave up Gleyber Torres, a top prospect whose first two seasons in New York went exceedingly well before a two-year drop in 2020 and a 2021 and a slight rebound that may result in him getting traded or getting less than he desires should he reach an arbitration.

The Yankees then re-signed Chapman on a five-year, $86 million deal in Dec. 2016, which at the time was the largest contract for a reliever but has since been eclipsed by the $102 million deal the Mets inked Edwin Diaz to early in the offseason. It was also extended another year for an additional year at $18 million after he opted out following the 2019 season which ended with him allowing a two-run homer to Jose Altuve in Game 6 of the ALCS in Houston,

After getting 20 saves in his first 31 appearances for the Yankees in 2016, Chapman accumulated 133 of his 153 saves when he returned to the team after contributing four saves and helping the Cubs end their title drought in 2016. He was still the flamethrower in his first three seasons when he accumulated 81 saves but eventually lost velocity to the high 90s and eventually lost his command.

The command issues were highlighted in a string of disastrous performances such as June 30, 2021 against the Angels when Jared Walsh capped a wild comeback in the rain and July 4, 2021 when he did not retire any of the three batters in the seventh of a five-run inning to the Mets resulting in a 10-5 loss.

Then in 2022, he was even less effective and created more nervousness for fans during some of his 43 appearances. Because of the effectiveness issue, the 11 different players recorded at least one save and Clay Holmes was thrust into the role. Holmes succeeded at first, producing an extremely high ground ball rate and getting 20 saves but he also struggled with injuries and the Yankees went to various lengths to protect him in the postseason.

By then, Chapman had thrown the last of his 4,665 pitches in six regular seasons since returning to the Yankees. He irked fans by getting an infected leg while getting a tattoo in August and then annoyed the Yankees by not showing up for a mandatory workout on Oct. 7 when the team wanted to see how he would do in live batting practice.

It capped a final season where he posted a 4.46 ERA and a 1,431 WHIP while often appearing in lower leverage situations.

Statistically Chapman peaked during the first three years of his contract with the Yankees, but the fall was dramatic, and it resulted in him being on the way to inking one of those “prove-it” deals. It also reinforced how difficult it can be to get saves when a team does not possess an all-time great in the final inning.

And perhaps the less lavish contract results in some type of return to his past self after reportedly spending part of his offseason working out with a Cuban boxing legend Yordenis Ugas, who beat Manny Pacquiao in 2021.