4 Yankees who don’t deserve another season in 2022

2. Aroldis Chapman

It remains unfathomable that the Yankees had an out in the Aroldis Chapman contract after his 2019 season ended walked-off, satisfied and smiling, Rob Manfred-style.

Not only did New York not use the opportunity to sever their ties with their overpaid closer — who, lest we forget, has also been suspended under the domestic violence policy and has since been acquired and reacquired by the Bombers — but they brought him back for three more seasons. Now, Chapman is tied to the Yankees through his age-34 campaign, and his no-trade clause was eliminated, keeping him firmly in place through ’22 unless something drastic happened.

Thank goodness! He’s only ended one additional season directly since then (2020), as well as one season indirectly by blowing a few unfathomable saves in a year that ended on the road, by one game in the standings, in a Wild Card Game loss.

The Yankees owe Chapman $18 million this season in the third year of his “new” deal. Theoretically, that’s a cash dump that a franchise such as this should be able to absorb effortlessly. Alas, every little bit counts these days, and any move the Bombers have ever made seems to preclude them from making new ones.

$18 million is also quite a hefty sum for a closer who started off 2021 on another planet, unleashing a splitter that made him the best pitcher we’d seen since Mo … leading to a mysterious finger injury, a disastrous fall, and as distrustful a June-July stretch as you’ll ever see.

Oh, and he can’t be traded.

The Yankees’ juju might be aided by finding a new home for Chapman, even though it’s far more likely that’ll be come 2023. A fan can dream, though.