Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
Aroldis Chapman has been one of the most dominant relief pitchers in Major League Baseball history. For 16 seasons, he has racked up over 350 saves and has an incredible ERA of 2.52 over 863 appearances. More than six of those seasons were spent with the New York Yankees. So surely he has some fond memories of his time in The Bronx, right? The answer to that is, most definitely not.
During an appearance on the Swing Completo podcast, Aroldis Chapman made his feelings for the Yankees very clear when he was asked if he would ever consider returning to the team for a third run.
“No way. Not even dead,” the 37-year-old pitching star replied. “If I were told that I was being traded to New York, I’d pack my things and go home. I’ll retire right on the spot if that happens. I’m not crazy. Never again.”
“I dealt with a lot of disrespect there. I put up with a lot of things. I knew that they just wanted to find a way to get rid of me, but they didn’t know how. And I just dealt with it quietly, kept playing, and doing what I always do,” Chapman added, referring to being left off the Yankees’ 2022 American League Division Series roster after missing a mandatory workout for what manager Aaron Boone deemed was not an “acceptable excuse.”
“I got along well with all the players, never had a problem with anybody, even the manager,” Chapman clarified. “We’re friends and we talk and everything. The bosses are the ones who make those decisions.”
Aroldis Chapman, unlike Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who also said in 2022 that he would not play for Yankees, “not even dead,” did actually want to be in New York at one point. He signed a five-year, $86 million deal between the 2016 and 2017 seasons after pitching for the Yankees in the first half of 2016 before being traded to the Cubs.
Luckily for him, after posting a 1.17 ERA with 32 saves in 67 appearances in 2025 with the Boston Red Sox, Chapman won’t have to worry about being sent to the Yankees anytime soon.