Written by Tim Brown at YahooSports.com
Aroldis Chapman, the flame-throwing closer whose free-agent walk-year began on thedomestic violence suspended list in New York and concluded on a celebratory dog-pile in Cleveland, agreed to terms with the Yankees on a five-year, $86-million contract on Wednesday night, the largest deal ever for a relief pitcher.
Chapman, 28, returns to the Yankees as the best ninth-inning option in a crowded market that included Kenley Jansen and Mark Melancon. Melancon signed with the San Francisco Giants for $62 million over four years. Jansen has not signed. Fox Sports was first to report the deal between the Yankees and Chapman. Chapman can opt out of the contract after three seasons, has a full no-trade clause in those seasons and, according to ESPN, may not be traded to a team in California.
Chapman recorded 36 saves in 59 appearances for the Yankees and Chicago Cubs in 2016, then four more saves for the Cubs across the postseason. He also blew three opportunities in October, including in Game 7 of the World Series, when the first two batters he faced in the eighth inning – pinch-hitter Brandon Guyer and Rajai Davis – doubled and homered, respectively. The Cubs won anyway.
The somewhat bumpy October, in which Chapman seemed resistant to pitching before the ninth inning, did not harm the left-hander’s market. More difficult to measure was the impact of Chapman’s turn as a domestic violence offender. As the first to be disciplined under MLB’s Joint Domestic Abuse program, he served 30 games for an October incident in which he allegedly choked his girlfriend and fired eight shots from a pistol into his garage wall.
Yankees will pay Aroldis Chapman in the neighborhood of $300,000 per inning pitched, over next 5 years, based on past season averages.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 8, 2016
The news of Chapman’s alleged abuse, which came while Chapman was a Cincinnati Red, fouled a potential trade that would have sent Chapman to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Less than a month later, the Yankees acquired Chapman for a discounted package of players. Women’s rights groups in New York were critical of the Yankees for employing Chapman. He returned from his suspension in early May and saved 20 games for the Yankees before being traded to the Cubs in late July.
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