Matt Chapman’s long and strange journey through free agency has finally come to an end.
The third baseman reportedly agreed to a three-year, $54 million contract with the Giants on Friday, according to multiple reports. The contract reportedly includes an opt-out after both the first and second years.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Chapman will make $20 million this season. If he doesn’t opt out, he will make $18 million in 2025 and $16 million in 2026.
Matt Chapman’s contract with the Giants will pay him $20 million this year, $18 million in 2025 (if he doesn’t opt out) and $16 million in 2026 (if he doesn’t opt out). @John Heyman report. He will slot into the middle of San Francisco’s lineup as the Giants look to make a comeback in 2024.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 2, 2024
Chapman, who turns 31 in April, will be in his eighth year in the majors. He posted a slash line of .240/.329/.461 during his career, his first five years with the Oakland Athletics. After Chapman hit 27 home runs and hit .210 with a .314 on-base percentage in 2021, the Athletics traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays, where he had moderate success in 2022 and ’23.
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But where Chapman really shines is on defense. He has won four Gold Glove Awards as a third baseman, three with the Athletics in 2018, 2019 and 2021, and one with the Jays in 2023. He also received the Rawlings Platinum Glove Award in 2018 and 2019. Chapman leads all third basemen in defensive runs allowed. Since the start of the 2018 season, he ranks third in outs above average at his position, according to ESPN.
Earlier this offseason, Chapman was ranked No. 8 on Yahoo Sports’ list of the top 25 free agents of the winter.
Chapman joins a Giants team that has reached the playoffs just once in the past seven seasons. San Francisco went 79-83 last year, but then parted ways with coach Gape Kapler. The organization hired San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin to replace him.
Why is Chapman’s market down?
With such a skilled glove, why did it take so long for Chapman to sign a contract? His recent batting performance may shed some light on that. Chapman struggled at the plate for most of 2023. He was a gangbuster from the start, batting .384/.465/.687 with five home runs in his first 27 games.
However, his batting average from May 1 to September 30 was only .205, making it his most successful period of the season. Chapman being able to finish 2023 hitting .240 is a testament to how strong his first month stats were.
Chapman was one of four clients of MLB super agent Scott Boras who did not have a contract in place for 2024 at the start of spring training. The other three were first baseman/center fielder Cody Bellinger, who has since returned to the Cubs, and starting pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell. Boras is the most powerful and best-known agent in the sport, known for representing the biggest stars and getting them the biggest deals.
In hindsight, it wasn’t all that surprising that as of mid-February, four Boras clients were still on the market. Boras is an aggressive agent who has advised clients in the past to wait as long as possible to get the best deal. But it can be dangerous. For Bellinger, he didn’t get the long-term, big-money contract he was probably hoping for, but now Chapman is also taking the short-term, opt-out route.
