New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has made it clear he won’t be apologizing to former closer Aroldis Chapman, despite the pitcher’s demands for one.
Chapman has expressed dissatisfaction with how the Yankees handled his situation at the close of the 2022 season, stating that general manager Brian Cashman should apologize to him. The eight-time All-Star was excluded from New York’s American League Divisional Series matchup against Cleveland after he failed to attend a required workout.
“At the end of the day, he wasn’t at the workout,” Boone stated on Friday. “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.”
“Chappy apologized, and really, it’s water under the bridge for me. I love Chappy. I have a really good relationship with him to this day, but the ending of the ’22 season is what it was. He wasn’t there, and I made the decision that I didn’t think it was best for him to come back at that point. He maintained that he was throwing and would be ready as the playoffs unfolded that year, but ultimately, I made that decision.”
When asked directly whether Chapman deserved an apology, Boone’s response was brief: “No.”
The 38-year-old Chapman accumulated 153 saves during his seven-year tenure with New York spanning 2016 through 2022.
Now playing for the rival Red Sox on a one-year contract worth $13.3 million, Chapman holds a 0-1 record with a 0.46 ERA and has converted 13 of 13 save opportunities for Boston.
Chapman ranks 10th in baseball history with 380 career saves, having played for seven different teams since 2010. He earned World Series rings with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and the Texas Rangers in 2023.
