Aaron Boone: Yankees don't owe Aroldis Chapman the apology he wants from Brian Cashman

Gary Phillips, New York Daily News on Jun 12, 2026

Published in Baseball

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TORONTO — A few improbable things would have to happen for there to be a reunion between the Yankees and Aroldis Chapman.

First, the Yankees would have to have interest in reacquiring a pitcher who left the team on poor terms in 2022. Then, the Yankees and the Red Sox, Chapman’s current employer, would have to agree to a rare trade between the rivals.

Finally, Brian Cashman would have to apologize to Chapman, the longtime closer told ESPN Deportes’ Enrique Rojas.

“What happened, happened,” said Chapman, who spent parts of seven seasons with the Yankees, beginning in 2016. “If something like this were to happen, I believe someone from this organization should apologize first.”

Asked if Cashman was the someone in question, Chapman replied, “Yes.”

Chapman hasn’t pitched for the Yankees since Oct. 4, 2022, at which point he wrapped up a season that saw him post a 4.46 ERA while losing the closer’s job to Clay Holmes.

Far from being guaranteed a spot on the Yankees’ postseason roster, the eight-time All-Star then flew home to Miami at the end of the regular season and blew off a mandatory team workout prior to the ALDS. At the time, Aaron Boone called Chapman’s reason for missing the workout, in which he was supposed to throw live batting practice, unacceptable. Chapman was fined, as well.

With Chapman also missing nearly a month with a leg infection, which stemmed from a tattoo, that season, Cashman said there were “some questions about whether he’s been in all-in or not for a little while.”

On Friday, Boone addressed Chapman’s comments to ESPN before the Yankees’ series opener in Toronto. When asked if he felt Chapman was owed any sort of apology, the manager said, “No.”

“At the end of the day, he wasn’t at the workout,” Boone added. “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 2022 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.”

The Yankees initially acquired Chapman from the Reds in December 2015 at a discount; he was about to become the first player penalized under Major League Baseball’s then-new Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy. The Yankees then flipped him to the Cubs prior to the 2016 trade deadline before bringing him back as a free agent that winter.

Chapman totaled a 2.94 ERA and 153 saves over 315 games with the Yankees. The 38-year-old also had a 1.71 ERA over 17 postseason games for them, as well as a few October implosions.

Since his disappointing 2022 campaign, Chapman has revived his career while pitching for the Royals, Rangers, Pirates and Red Sox. The two-time World Series champ has a 0.46 ERA and 13 saves for Boston’s basement-dwelling squad this season.

While he would upgrade a Yankees bullpen that is short on sure things, it’s hard to see Cashman having interest — in a reunion or an apology — and Chapman has previously said, in no uncertain terms, that he doesn’t want to wear pinstripes again.

“If I were told that I was being traded to New York, I’d pack my things and go home,” Chapman told the “Swing Completo” podcast last year. “I’ll retire right on the spot if that happens. I’m not crazy. Never again.”