Manager Joe Girardi said on Monday's edition of Yankees Hot Stove on YES Network that Chapman will enter spring training as the team's closer.
Although Chapman eventually found a new home via a Dec. 28 trade from Cincinnati to New York, an earlier deal to the Dodgers was nixed due to a domestic-violence allegation, which is expected to impact him at some point during the upcoming campaign. Nevertheless, his track record in the closer's role has translated to 30-plus saves in each of the last four seasons, usurping that of the last year's closer Andrew Miller and making Chapman the logical man for the job.