It’s a one-year deal, unless you count the “selling your soul” part.
The Red Sox signed noted fireballer, domestic abuser and “guy who blows it in every big spot,” Aroldis Chapman, 36, on Tuesday to a one year, $10.75 million contract.
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. @ChrisCotillo said deal was progressing.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 3, 2024
The Red Sox had been looking to bolster the left-handed options in the bullpen and settled on Chapman, who will play for his seventh major league team after working as the Pirates’s closer last year. The previous year, he won a World Series as a setup man with the Texas Rangers.
Chapman is either best known as the guy who, in 2015, choked his girlfriend before firing eight gunshots at her or the guy who nearly blew the Cubs’s World Series win or the guy who, despite being a lefty who throws 105 miles per hour, was taken deep in 2017 by a then-rookie Rafael Devers to tie a big game against the Yankees:
Chapman joins a Red Sox team that has one winning record in the last five seasons. In 2016, he was the first player to be suspended under MLB’s domestic abuse policy. The Red Sox were set to trade for him back then, but backed off as details of the incident emerged:
After 2015, we agreed to send Margot and Marco Hernandez to the Reds for Chapman, but it fell apart when we discovered disturbing details about his domestic dispute. We actually informed the Reds about it. We pivoted to Kimbrel, and Chapman went to the Yankees. I guess enough… https://t.co/gVkFoRIsgd
— Zack Scott (@ZackScottSports) December 3, 2024
Chapman has 335 career saves. He will fill a vital hole in the bullpen while leaving a bigger one in your heart.