TAMPA — Aroldis Chapman’s comments after he left the Cubs to come back to the Yankees made it clear he won’t miss playing for Chicago manager Joe Maddon.
Chapman ripped Maddon for his usage in the World Series that the Cubs wound up winning despite Chapman blowing a lead in Game 7, but he’s hoping the Yankees have at least something in common with Chicago.
“I’m looking forward to being a part of this youth movement,” Chapman said Saturday through a translator after arriving at Steinbrenner Field. “I’m young, too.”
The Cubs saw their approach pay off in ending a 108-year championship drought. The Yankees have a long way to go.
“I’ve seen a lot of teams do this,” Chapman said. “I just saw it happen in Chicago, and it’s something very impressive that [the Yankees] are following a youth movement. Houston is another team you see getting young guys. This is going to be a very good team.”
With questions surrounding much of the starting rotation and a lineup filled with unproven players, the Yankees won’t be anyone’s bet to end their own title drought, which dates to 2009.
Despite the uncertainty, Chapman isn’t ready to concede the AL East to the Red Sox, especially having seen the Yankees play better following the trades that sent him to the Cubs, Andrew Miller to Cleveland and Carlos Beltran to Texas last July.
“You never know,” Chapman said. “You’ve got to play it. Look what this team did without us and with all these young kids. You never know what’s going to happen. All I know is this is a really young team, and they’re going to fight very hard. I think we’ll do very well.”
The back of the bullpen certainly seems strong enough, with Chapman joined by Dellin Betances and Tyler Clippard.
But for the Yankees to have any real success in 2017, the players Chapman watched — mostly from afar last season — will have to progress. The Cubs renaissance didn’t happen overnight.
“Chicago did the same thing with young kids combined with veterans, and it worked for them,” Chapman said. “It’s a solid team. The Yankees are similar in that way. They’re trying to bring in some youth.”
Now the Yankees just have to hope Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres can turn into a version of Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez.
He caught a glimpse of Sanchez in spring training and when the catcher made his Bronx cameo for a game in May, before Chapman’s trade.
“He can hit,” Chapman said of Sanchez.
What he saw before he left made Chapman believe good things were ahead.
“It was no surprise to me,” Chapman said. “People talked about this upcoming talent. It was something you saw coming.”
That appealed to Chapman — and the $85 million didn’t hurt either.
The Yankees took some heat for trading for Chapman from the Reds over a year ago after he was involved in a domestic dispute that cost him a 30-day suspension last season. And the team took more heat when they made him their most expensive offseason acquisition in December.
But Chapman fit in well in The Bronx and chose to sign with the Yankees instead of the Marlins.
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