BOSTON -- Bolstering the bullpen with more velocity has been a stated priority for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow this winter, and he made a significant move toward that end on Tuesday night by signing veteran lefty Aroldis Chapman to a one-year contract. It's worth $10.75 million, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.

The deal was agreed to last week, but was pending a physical.

A seven-time All-Star with 335 career saves, Chapman has been more often used in a setup capacity the last three seasons, though he did notch 14 saves with the Pirates last season.

The Red Sox have three-time All-Star Liam Hendriks -- who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery -- and Justin Slaten (coming off a strong rookie year) as candidates to pitch the ninth inning. Chapman could join the mix in Spring Training as well, depending on how manager Alex Cora views the situation.

“I think he brings something that was sorely missed in our 2024 bullpen, the ability to generate swings and misses and an electrically dominant fastball, particularly from the left side,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “We’re figuring out exactly what role he pitches in, but we feel he will be a huge piece of preserving leads late in game.”

While the Red Sox were unable to land the biggest free agent this winter -- outfielder Juan Soto -- the remaking of the bullpen is another key story to watch for the club in the coming weeks.

With Kenley Jansen, the team’s closer the last two seasons, set to leave as a free agent and Chris Martin also more likely to sign somewhere else, it was important for the Red Sox to add some more experienced relievers to go along with Hendriks in ’25, and Chapman certainly fits that bill.

Chapman also gives the Sox something they didn’t have all of last season – an established lefty in the bullpen.

Chapman still throws the ball with tremendous velocity, and he provides a potentially devastating lefty power arm out of the bullpen. His fastball, which was clocked as high as 105 mph in 2024, averaged just under 99 mph and helped fuel a 37.1% strikeout rate, which ranked in MLB's 99th percentile.

In ’24, Chapman passed Hall of Fame candidate Billy Wagner for the most strikeouts all-time by a lefty reliever.

Chapman was traded from the Reds to the Yankees on Dec. 28, 2015, and was suspended for the first 30 games of the ’16 season for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy.

The Red Sox did plenty of background work on that situation before signing Chapman.

“I can speak to our decision around Aroldis and say that it is a decision that we took incredibly seriously and our background and reference checking was extensive,” said Breslow. “This is a guy who has been in good standing across five organizations for the last eight years. And in no way does that diminish the severity of what happened.

“But we talked to former teammates, coaches, officials, executives. I talked individually to a number of people within the organization to get a sense of who the person was that we were getting. And the feeling was overwhelmingly positive about Aroldis as a teammate, as a positive influence on other players in the clubhouse, particularly the younger Latin players. This is a guy with an incredible work ethic.

“Ultimately we were comfortable with the decision to move forward. But, again, I want to reiterate that does not ignore what happened and [we] will continue to take these on a case-by-case basis. But we felt like we had run this extensive process and collected as much information as we possibly could.”

On Aug. 13, 2017, the Red Sox had a memorable moment against Chapman when Rafael Devers belted his 102.8 mph fastball over the wall in left-center to tie it up in the ninth inning against the Yankees on Sunday Night Baseball. It was the fourth homer in the career of Devers and the second Chapman had allowed to a left-handed hitter at that point in his career. The Red Sox won that game, 3-2, in 10 innings.

That was part of Chapman’s second stint with the Yankees. A year earlier, New York traded Chapman to the Cubs on July 25 in a deal that brought Gleyber Torres to the Bronx.

That set Chapman up to be on one of the most historic teams of all-time, the ’16 Cubs, who won their first World Series since 1908.

Chapman defected from Cuba in 2009 and signed with the Reds in ’10. He spent his first six seasons with Cincinnati, pitching to a 2.17 ERA while picking up his first 146 saves.

Overall in 2024, he went 5-5 with a 3.79 ERA in 68 games for the Pirates, his fourth team in the past three seasons. The 36-year-old struck out 98 batters in 61 2/3 innings with Pittsburgh, while holding opponents to a .165 expected average, which ranked in MLB's 99th percentile.

While Chapman's triple-digit fastball remains his signature pitch, it also remains just one tool in an impressive repertoire. He also possesses a power sinker and slider, which produced whiff rates of 32% and 31%, respectively, in 2024. But he also struggles with his control at times, an issue that has plagued him throughout his career. The wildness led to a 14.4% walk rate that was among the worst in MLB last season.

For his career, Chapman has an 87.5 save percentage, which ranks third among active pitchers (min. 150 saves) behind Jansen and Craig Kimbrel (both 88.2).