Brian Cashman reached an agreement to trade Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs in late July last summer, but he had to sweat out approval from ownership.

While the framework of the deal had been reached, Chapman was still with the New York Yankees and pitched two innings on July 23.

"Chapman went two-plus innings, not something normally [that occurs] if you are going to execute a trade," Cashman said. "[Steinbrenner] waited 72 hours to green light it as he discussed it with his family. It was not an easy decision. I was keeping Theo [Epstein] on hold, essentially. I told him 'I will let you know if ownership says 'yes'.' I said 'I am recommending it. We'll see what happens.'"

The reliever was still a Yankee as the club boarded a charter flight on July 24th to play a series in Houston. When the Yankees arrived in Houston, ownership had approved the deal.