Aroldis Chapman spent years wanting the Yankees to own up to how they handled him on the way out the door. Now, according to Jon Heyman of The Post, he's just letting it go.
t.co/hTlbrmlT0r Aroldis Chapman tells The Post he no longer expects an apology from the Yankees. “Turned the page.” (plus notes on Contreras, Verlander and Skubal)
Heyman's report has Chapman saying he no longer expects an apology and has "turned the page" on the whole saga. That's a real walk-back — Chapman had been telling reporters as recently as last month that if the Yankees ever wanted him back, someone in the organization, specifically GM Brian Cashman, owed him an apology first. Now the demand is off the table entirely.
The grudge traces back to 2022, when the Yankees left Chapman off their ALDS roster after he missed a mandatory team workout. Aaron Boone said at the time Chapman's explanation wasn't "acceptable," and the fallout effectively ended his run in the Bronx. Chapman had been one of the most dominant closers in the sport for New York since a 2015 trade brought him over from Cincinnati, though his Yankees tenure was also shadowed by the 30-game domestic violence suspension he served in 2016 before ever throwing a pitch for the club.
Chapman is now closing games for the Red Sox, which is exactly what made this storyline relevant again — Boston fielding trade interest ahead of the deadline naturally raised the question of whether he could end up back in pinstripes down the stretch. That's the scenario that got Chapman talking about apologies in the first place, and it's the scenario that makes today's softened stance worth watching.
Whether or not a reunion ever actually happens, Chapman removing his own condition simplifies things. No more hypothetical apology tour standing between him and a return — just whatever Boston and New York decide makes sense as the deadline closes in.