The Red Sox agree Aroldis Chapman with a one-year contract. The deal, which is still pending physical closing, reportedly guarantees the Wasserman client $10.75 million. Boston’s 40-man roster is full, so they will need to make a move once the signing is officially announced.

Boston is the left-hander’s fifth different team since 2022. Chapman is no longer the elite closer he was at his peak with the Reds and Yankees. Despite his scattershot command, he is still an effective, if somewhat inconsistent, reliever. He posted a 3.79 ERA over 61 2/3 innings for the Pirates this year. Signed as a setup option David BednarChapman recorded 22 service games before taking over as closer for the struggling Bednar towards the end of the season. He made 14 saves, his highest total in three years, and gave up just five leads.

Even as he enters his age-37 season, Chapman remains one of the toughest backups in the league. He averaged 97.8 MPH on his four-seam fastball and 99.8 MPH on his sinker. While Chapman is no longer in his own league when it comes to speed, that is rare arm speed on the left side. Only among southpaws with at least five innings played Jose A. Ferrer And Gregory Soto threw their four-seaters harder on average. Chapman’s sinker speed led all southpaws and ranked fourth overall in the MLB Emmanuel Clase, Justin Martínez And Seth Halvorsen.

This high-octane stuff continues to produce a lot of strikeouts. Chapman fanned 37% of batters against Pittsburgh. Among relievers with more than 20 innings, Chapman ranked eighth in strikeout rate. His walk rate of 14.7% was the ninth highest mark in this group. Less than half of his plate appearances ended with a ball in play. There will be a lot of free passes, but Chapman’s skills are so good that he still manages to get out of trouble.

This is the second bullpen pickup of the offseason for Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and the Boston front office. They also brought with them Justin Wilson last month to work the middle innings. There could be room for another addition as four Sox relievers hit free agency. They are expected to allow it Kenley Jansen go and could also lose Chris Martin, Luis Garcia And Lucas Sims. Liam Hendriks should be back from Tommy John surgery and is the favorite to replace Jansen as Alex Cora moves closer. Rule 5 Selection Justin Slaten should be your top setup option from the right. Cam Booser And Brennan Bernardinowho had been their best internal left-handers profiled themselves as middle relievers rather than heavily indebted arms.

Chapman was not ranked among MLBTR’s top 50 free agents. Still, he was one of the best left-handed hitters available to teams that didn’t want to play at the top of the market Tanner Scott. He deserves a very slight raise compared to last winter when he signed with Pittsburgh for $10.5 million.

This move puts the Red Sox’s estimated payroll, including arbitration projections, at approximately $148 million (courtesy of RosterResource). Boston has luxury tax liabilities of up to approximately $181 million. They are $60 million below the property tax limit. CEO Sam Kennedy hinted that the Sox could cross the threshold, one of countless comments from team executives pointing to a big offseason. There will be much more to come from Breslow and Co., who are one of five teams known to be involved Juan Soto and have been linked to every top free agent starting pitcher.

MassLive’s Chris Cotillo initially reported that the Red Sox and Chapman had made progress on a deal. Mike Rodriguez confirmed there was a deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported on the terms of the deal. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.