Three days after the Boston Red Sox were swept out of the American League Wild Card series by the New York Yankees, the club received the first firm answer about its 2027 roster.
Aroldis Chapman passed his end-of-season physical on Saturday, locking in the $13 million option that keeps the veteran closer under contract through his age-39 season, via insider Francys Romero.
The option was not a club decision. It vested on August 15, when Chapman closed a 4-0 win at Pittsburgh with a scoreless ninth and pushed his season total past 40 innings.
Under the terms of the deal, that threshold made the 2027 year official, provided a physical found no impairment that would keep him off the Opening Day roster. Insider Francys Romero reported Saturday that Chapman cleared that exam.
The structure dates to an August 31, 2025 extension that guaranteed Chapman $13.3 million: a $1 million signing bonus due by January 15, 2026, and a $12 million salary for this season.
The 2027 option pays $13 million; had it failed to vest, Boston would have owed only a $300,000 buyout.
Award bonuses can add anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million, with the top figure tied to Reliever of the Year. Even at the full amount, the salary sits below the deals held by Josh Hader and Edwin Díaz.
Chapman earned the commitment.
In 2025, he went 5-3 with a 1.17 ERA, 32 saves and 85 strikeouts in 61⅓ innings, won the Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award and finished seventh in Cy Young voting.
This year he was 3-4 with a 1.92 ERA, 35 saves and 71 strikeouts in 51⅔ innings, and he made his ninth All-Star team. A lat injury sidelined him after September 13; he returned on September 23 to record his 35th save.
On July 3 in Anaheim he struck out Denzer Guzman for career strikeout No. 1,364, passing Hoyt Wilhelm’s 1,363 for the most by a reliever. Wilhelm needed 1,872⅓ innings. Chapman did it in roughly 847.
Across 17 seasons he is 63-52 with a 2.48 ERA, 402 saves and 1,402 strikeouts, striking out 14.5 batters per nine innings. The save total ranks ninth all-time, behind Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Kenley Jansen, Lee Smith, Craig Kimbrel, Francisco Rodríguez, John Franco and Billy Wagner.
He won World Series titles with the 2016 Cubs and the 2023 Rangers. Born February 28, 1988, he will pitch next season at 39, then become a free agent if he chooses to continue into 2028.
For a Red Sox team that exited the postseason in two uncompetitive losses, the vested option at least settles the back of the bullpen before the winter market opens.
