Aroldis Chapman wants to pitch for the New York Yankees again. But he has one big demand. He wants General Manager Brian Cashman to say sorry for how his time in New York ended in 2022. For years, Yankees manager Aaron Boone stayed quiet about Chapman’s messy exit. However, with the Boston Red Sox looking to trade players and Chapman pitching incredibly well, Boone finally broke his long silence to address his former closer’s demand.

.However, his infamous controversy with the New York Yankees from 2022 is back in the talk as he posed an uncomfortable demand to get traded to the Bombers again. The Red Sox could become sellers by the trade deadline. But if they trade away Chapman to the Yankees, an apology from Brian Cashman is all needed to make a deal.

“No,” Boone said when asked if Chapman should get an apology. “At the end of the day, he wasn’t at the workout. I made the decision based on a lot of things and thought to leave him off because I thought that was the right thing to do for our club at the time. Chappy apologized, and, really, it’s water under the bridge for me. I love Chappy. I have a really good relationship with him to this day, but the ending of the 2022 season is what it was. He wasn’t there, and I made the decision that I didn’t think it was best for him to come back at that point.”

The trade is now being talked about because Chapman is having a great season with the Boston Red Sox. The 38-year-old pitcher has recorded a 0.46 ERA in the relief role. He has safely closed all 13 games he pitched in. Right now, the Red Sox are having a bad season with a 27-36 record. Many people think they will start trading away players soon.

Chapman was one of the best pitchers during his 6.5-season stint with the Yankees between 2016 and 2022. He had posted a combined regular-season record of 24-14 with a 2.94 ERA, 153 saves, and 453 SOs across 315 appearances in his Yankees career. However, his relationship with the Yankees strained in 2022 due to his injury.

That year, Chapman struggled with Achilles tendinitis, a leg infection from a tattoo, and saw his ERA balloon to a career-worst 4.46. As a result, he lost the closer role to Clay Holmes. When Chapman realized he might not make the playoff roster, he skipped a mandatory team workout and stayed in Miami. The Yankees left him off the entire playoff roster, ending his time with the club.

However, Chapman claims he had permission from Cashman to stay back in Miami. He blamed the general manager for the miscommunication, while Cashman publicly labeled it insubordination. While Chapman later apologized to Boone for missing out on the 2022 session, he still demands the same from Cashman.

“What happened, happened… If something like this were to happen, I believe someone from this organization should apologize first,” Chapman told Enrique Rojas of ESPN.

For that, Chapman needs an apology from Cashman, while Boone straightaway declined. Time will tell if that means no chance of Chapman getting traded to the Yankees. Still, considering how the Yankees’ bullpen is struggling, Aroldis Chapman could prove effective.

The Yankees’ bullpen needs Aroldis Chapman

In early May, Boone shared his confidence in the Yankees’ relief staff.

“I think they’re just better than everyone thinks,” he said.

However, since then, the bullpen has proved every word of the manager wrong. For example, entering a game with a 1-0 lead on May 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tim Hill was charged with four runs without recording a single out.

Earlier in April, against the Miami Marlins, Fernando Cruz and Jake Bird gave up a late lead. They turned a solid outing from Max Fried into a gut-wrenching 7-6 home loss. So, with that being said, the Yankees need reliable arms at the bottom of their innings. Chapman, at 38, still has his fastball routinely reach triple digits, overwhelming opposing hitters.

In early April, Chapman sealed the Red Sox’s home opener against the San Diego Padres. He logged his 369th career save, officially passing Jonathan Papelbon for 11th on the MLB all-time saves list.

If the Yankees need to pay prospects for Aroldis Chapman, that still could be a deal. Chapman could still perform in the next year or two. A low-stakes trade is thus possible, but only if both parties agree on the apology part.