Aroldis Chapman reveals Pirates' offseason snub after hot start with Red Sox

The Pirates' bullpen in 2024 was a disaster, but one arm that took off in the second half was Aroldis Chapman. The future Hall of Famer was easily the best reliever on the team in that timeframe, but was also the team's highest paid player.

That alone made it tough to expect him to return to Pittsburgh, and in the end, he signed with Boston for just $250,000 more than what Pittsburgh paid him.

Given the team's shaky bullpen as is, why not bring the flamethrower back for another year for that price? According to an interview, Chapman was interested in returning, but the Pirates apparently did not reciprocate.

"I was interested in coming back," Chapman told Pittsburgh Baseball Now reporter John Perotto this week. "I guess they didn’t want me. It’s too bad, but I’m happy where I’m at now."

Pirates should be regretting not even reaching out to Aroldis Chapman after his hot start with the Red Sox.

Chapman is off to a hot start in Boston, posting a 1.74 ERA across 10.1 innings with a K/9 of 13.94. His WHIP sits at a 1.06, stemming from an opposing average of .184 and a walk rate of 9.5%. This has led him to four saves in just as many opportunities.

His issue in Pittsburgh was a walk rate of 20.3% in the first half of the season. That was not sufficient, especially for a player with the team's highest salary, but in the second half, it fell to 6.5%. He even got save opportunities after the collapse of David Bednar, which would have been useful to start 2025 following another collapse of both Bednar and Colin Holderman.

Not attempting to bring him back was a complete missed opportunity. Instead, the Pirates brought in Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza for a combined salary of around $4 million. Ferguson has actually been a reliable option in the bullpen and Mayza was not bad in low leverage situations prior to getting hurt, but ... still.

Although the bullpen is lefty heavy already, it would have been a no brainer to have Chapman over a guy like Joey Wentz or even Mayza. Instead, the Pirates relied on perfect players to try out on one-year deals, looking for bounce back potential.

What hurts most about this situation is Chapman admitted that he was interested in a return to the Pirates. It appears that they didn't even try to form a reunion, which is sad to hear after he was one of the only reliable pieces in the 2024 bullpen.