Red Sox's Eight-Time All-Star Shares Vague Response About Retirement

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One of the Boston Red Sox's best players' days with the team appeared to be numbered, one way or another.

Despite the Red Sox's struggles this season, the bullpen has been one of the few bright spots for the team, posting a 3.15 ERA, the second-best in the league. Boston's anchor all year has been eight-time All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman, who has an absurd 0.46 ERA with 26 strikeouts across 20 appearances this season.

The star closer's name continues to pop up in trade rumors, with the Red Sox sitting at the bottom of the AL East, but Chapman has made it clear that he intends to stay in Boston and win here.

Chapman is playing some of the best baseball of his career and has arguably been in his most dominant stretch at 38 years old. The left-handed hurler still regularly tops 100 MPH with his fastballs and has only allowed one run this entire season on April 4.

Though the 38-year-old is practically a lock to be named an All-Star for the ninth time in his dominant career, it's unclear how much longer he'll be playing. Chapman is on a one-year, $13 million contract with a 2027 vesting option if he reaches 40 innings pitched and is healthy at the end of this season, which also becomes a mutual option if it doesn't vest.

Despite getting better with age, Chapman gave a vague response about how much longer he plans to pitch for.

“I don’t know how long I’ll keep throwing,” Chapman said on Tuesday, per MassLive's Christopher Smith. “But yeah, I’ve been able to improve my control and the command to my pitches. That’s something I had trouble with throughout my whole career. So that’s helped me to be successful (at 38) and I don’t know how long I’ll keep going.”

At the very least, it appears that Chapman will still be pitching next season based on his contract, but he will turn 40 before the start of the 2028 season. It will be interesting to see how much longer the star closer pitches for, especially if he can maintain the absurd level of dominance he's displayed for the Red Sox.

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