Ranking every New York Yankees closer since Mariano Rivera

4. Aroldis Chapman

It would've been downright disrespectful to rank Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees' primary closer for most of 2016 and 2017-2019/2021, below Britton, who did it for ~15 games. That said ... we considered it!

This is the lowest you can place Chapman without being unreasonable or personally biased, and furthermore -- OK, no, there's clearly still a level of personal bias here. But there always will be with Chapman. He was ill-gotten goods. The Yankees read about a domestic violence suspension looming and saw only dollar signs, and they decided to pounce as his price dropped. Then, they flipped him to Chicago after an excellent half-season, only to pounce again when the campaign wrapped, and he was forever slightly deadened by overuse in the postseason.

But don't worry! When they had a chance to wriggle out of Chapman's expensive deal after the 2019 season -- which ended with him on the mound, smirking -- they somehow turned it into another extension.

Don't let Chapman's regression and indelible postseason failures blind you from acknowledging that he was legitimately great, more often than not, from 2016-2019. Additionally, though, don't let Chapman's string of success allow you to forget how he got here. The Jekyll and Hyde act we often watched on the mound -- you knew whether he had it from the first pitch -- was probably what we deserved.