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The Hot Stove hasn’t exactly been hot very often throughout the MLB offseason. Pitchers and catchers will start reporting to spring training in about five weeks, and many top-tier free agents are still without a new contract. One of those players is third baseman Matt Chapman. The San Francisco Giants are a potential fit for his services, and there are a few connections by the Bay that could play a role.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman was the most recent to connect Chapman with the Giants on December 27. In a January 8 report for The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal reiterated how much Chapman would fit with San Francisco. He also discussed three distinct connections those within the organization have with the seven-year veteran.
Before spending 2022 and 2023 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Chapman played for five years with the Oakland Athletics. Rosenthal noted that three people now working for the Giants were all with Oakland at various times during the beginning of Chapman’s career.
San Francisco’s president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi worked in Oakland during the start of Chapman’s time with the organization. New Giants manager Bob Melvin was the A’s skipper for the entire time the third baseman played for the club. Last, but not least, current San Francisco third base coach Matt Williams also worked for the A’s in 2018 and 2019.
What Chapman Could Provide the Giants
While Chapman has been to just one All-Star Game, he brings a unique skill set to the table for any team that signs him. His offensive production hasn’t been great in recent years (.756 OPS since the start of 2022), but it hasn’t impacted how he fields his position.
Chapman is a four-time Gold Glove Award winner and has also won two Platinum Glove Awards. Rosenthal noted that his defensive prowess and durability would be something the Giants could use in 2024 and beyond.
Chapman appeared in 140 games for the Blue Jays in 2023. It was the fifth time he’s appeared in at least that many games since 2018. The only time he didn’t was in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign when he played in 37 of a possible 60 contests.
Oracle Park has historically been a pitcher-friendly stadium. That trend continued in 2023, as Statcast ranked it baseball’s sixth-worst stadium for offense. This could be a problem for Chapman. He struggled to a .240/.330/.424 line with 17 home runs and 54 RBI in 2023 after an absurdly hot start (1.152 OPS in March/April). But then again, maybe a change of scenery accompanied by familiar faces could help him recapture his MVP-caliber production from 2018 and 2019.
A Look at the Third Baseman’s Current Market
There haven’t been a ton of teams connected to Chapman in the rumor mill this winter. The Giants have been connected to him the longest and most consistently over the past few weeks. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported the third baseman as a potential fit in San Francisco on December 13.
Other than that, only a couple of other squads have been linked to the Scott Boras client thus far. This includes his most recent team — the Blue Jays — as well as the Chicago Cubs. Heyman reported the Cubs’ interest in Chapman on December 5. Toronto and Chapman’s camp met in person at the GM Meetings in November, per MLB.com.
One can imagine Boras will do what’s possible to get his client as big of a payday as possible. MLB Trade Rumors ranked Chapman as the seventh-best free agent this offseason on November 6. They also predicted he’d land a six-year, $150 million deal.
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