Aroldis Chapman free agency rumors: Closer doesn't opt out; Yankees add year, $18M to contract

Tom Gatto

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Aroldis Chapman free agency rumors: Closer doesn't opt out; Yankees add year, $18M to contract image

The Yankees and Aroldis Chapman on Saturday agreed to add one year and $18 million to the closer's contract, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported.

The agreement was reported just before the midnight ET deadline for Chapman to decide whether to opt out of the final two years of the five-year, $86 million pact he signed in December 2016. The deal had $30 million remaining. With the additional year, Chapman will now be signed through the 2022 season and be due $48 million total.

Chapman confirmed the agreement on Twitter late Saturday.

The Yankees had not commented on Passan's report as of early Sunday.

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Chapman, 31, was named to the American League All-Star team in 2019 en route to recording 37 saves and a 2.21 ERA in 60 games. His season ended in disappointment as he served up an ALCS-ending walkoff home run to the Astros' Jose Altuve.

The Yankees re-signed the Cuba native to the five-year contract after trading him to the Cubs in July of that year, with New York netting second baseman Gleyber Torres. The Bombers initially obtained Chapman in a trade with the Reds in December 2015. He sat out the first 30 games of the 2016 season after being suspended by MLB for violating its policy on domestic violence. Chapman denied wrongdoing.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.