MLB insider Jeff Passan is the latest reporter to state that Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman will be a free agent next year. Passan initially included the veteran in his early free agency preview but removed him later on.
While there's an outside chance that Chapman becomes a free agent next season, he'll most likely return to the Red Sox. Late in the 2025 season, Chapman signed a one-year, $13.3 million deal with Boston which included a vesting option for 2027. The option vested when the closer reached 40 innings pitched this season, but he needs to pass a physical to stick around in Boston for another season.
The Red Sox will be lucky to have Chapman for another year. He's posted some of the best seasons of his long and illustrious career with Boston at a reasonable price for the club. He's posted a 1.55 ERA, 0.891 WHIP, 4.29 strikeout-to-walk rate and 65 saves over 110 innings since he signed with the Sox before the 2025 season.
Chapman has showed no signs of regression with age, which might explain why Boston was willing to take a risk by extending him into his age-39 season. He's clocked a 2.03 ERA with 65 strikeouts over 48.2 innings this year. He's made 33 saves, tied for fifth-most in MLB, on 35 opportunities.
Reminding reporters and fans that Aroldis Chapman will not be a free agent in 2027 after Red Sox vesting option
As Passan writes in his early free agent tracker, the coming class of relief pitchers is underwhelming, making the Sox even better off for holding on to Chapman. The best closers entering free agency this coming winter are current New York Yankee David Bednar (2.63 ERA, 32 saves) and Atlanta Brave Raisel Iglesias (2.83 ERA, 32 saves).
If they weren't holding onto Chapman for another season, the Sox would have a few internal options for closer, though one stands out above the others. Before the 2025 season, when the Red Sox were still waiting to see if Chapman could bounce back to his best self, the competed for the closer spot with Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten. The latter is prone to the occasional implosion and is too injured to rely on for such a big job, but Whitlock and his 1.88 ERA and 0.83 WHIP could handle the role.
If you see any more reports that Chapman is a free agent this coming offseason, just know they aren't true. The Red Sox will get at least one more year with Chapman as their go-to guy in the ninth inning as he continues to rack up records and make his Hall of Fame case.
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