Flame-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman returned to the New York Yankees on a high-priced free agent deal this winter. It came after he helped the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.
It was also following an incident in the fall of 2015 where the closer allegedly fired eight gunshots in the garage of his Miami-area home following an October argument with his girlfriend in which she told police he “choked” her and pushed her against a wall.
The incident, according to Jeff Passan and Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports resulted in no arrests. Still, the alleged assault on Chapman’s girlfriend did result in over a dozen police officers coming to his home in Davie, Florida where she was said to be hiding in bushes.
Here’s Chapman’s police report.
According to USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is not only refusing to apologize for the signing but saying the 28-year-old’s past will eventually be nothing but a lost memory.
“Quite frankly it was manageable the minute he got here last year,’’ Steinbrenner said at the quarterly owners’ meetings Thursday. “He was great. Look, he admitted he messed up. He paid the penalty. Sooner or later, we forget, right? That’s the way we’re supposed to be in life. He did everything right, and said everything right, when he was with us.’’
Steinbrenner also said Chapman “clearly made a mistake” in the domestic violence case. Perhaps he felt the 30-game suspension and fine was enough of a punishment. He then went on to praise Chapman.
“It’s a lot of money for a reliever,’’ Steinbrenner said, “but obviously, he’s a special player. He’s about as strong a guy Here as you’ll ever come across.”
The Yankees owner then said the fans are excited to see Chapman and “he will be great.”