Category: San Francisco Giants

Former Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman circles the bases and will be playing on a regular basis for the San Francisco Giants for the 2024 season (AP News file photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants made the signing of third-baseman Matt Chapman official today on a one-year, $18 million deal that includes player options for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, as well as a mutual option for the 2027 Season.

The Giants announced the deal at a press conference Monday at Scottsdale Stadium. Chapman was joined by Manager Bob Melvin, whom he is reuniting with after five seasons together across the bay with the Oakland Athletics from 2017 to 2021. Chapman and Melvin made no secret about their excitement for their reunion.

“We had something really special with the A’s, and unfortunately, that got ripped out of our hands and broken up,” said Chapman. “To come back here and have an opportunity with an organization like the Giants that’s not afraid to spend; a team that’s not afraid to go and get free agents and keep guys together and adding; and do all the things you expect a winning franchise to do, we have the opportunity to do that here, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of that.”

“It just seemed like it was destiny,” Chapman added. “I think we’ve got some unfinished business [here].”

For [Champan, this is] the most comfortable spot, and he love[s] playing in the Bay Area,” said Melvin.

Indeed, Chapman is wasting no time making himself comfortable with the Giants.

“Since I’ve been here, I [have felt] super comfortable,” said Chapman. “Going through the defenses, going through all the drills. Got to do it for seven years, so it was just like riding a bike.”

However, Chapman’s arrival means that JD Davis has lost his job as the Giants’ everyday third-baseman. The speculation on the future of Davis is all over the place, from roles as a late-inning pinch-hitter, to being traded. Only time will tell for Davis.

Another player whose future is clouded by the arrival of Chapman is Casey Schmitt. Schmitt had an exciting rookie season for the Giants in 2023, and could perhaps see time as a utility man, as he tried to make even more noise in his sophomore season.

Though, no matter what happens, this off-season has proven that the Giants and President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi are willing to spend money. Despite losing out on Shohei Ohtani and prized starting pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Zaidi committed to spending over $250 million, as he added Jung-hoo Lee, Jordan Hicks and Jorge Soler.

Chapman is a career-.240 hitter. While his defense is his forte, Chapman also provides power. The Giants are hoping that Jorge Soler can end the Giants’ streak of 19-straight seasons without a 30-home run season from a player, but Chapman could end the streak as well.

Chapman hit 36 home runs with the A’s in 2019; 27 with the A’s in 2021; and 27 with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022. Chapman hit .240 with 17 home runs for Toronto in 2023.

Chapman is the second of the “Boras Four” to be signed. Cody Bellinger was re-signed by the Chicago Cubs to a three-year deal on Feb. 28. Starting pitchers Jordan Montgomery, and 2023 National League Cy Young Award Winner Blake Snell remained unsigned, but the Giants are believed to be in the running for snell.

Scott Boras indeed accompanied Chapman to his press conference, and he and Chapman offered their thoughts on the situation surrounding Boras and his clients.

“[It was] definitely a strange market this year,” said Chapman, who is expected to try free agency again after this season if his power numbers go back up. “The free agent market was a little abnormal. Our goals were to either get a long-term contract that we felt that I was worth. If not, get the short-term contract with opt-outs and bet on myself.”

“Obviously teams have different thoughts,” said Boras. “There are teams that want long-term [deals] for their particular reasons, and there are teams that want short-term. You kind of listen to both dynamics of what each team has, and wants, and talk to your clients and see what they want to do.”

Chapman also dispelled the reputation that the City of San Francisco has for homelessness and crime.

“I chose to come here,” said Chapman. “I think everybody’s different. Everybody has different things that matter to them, but I’m from California. I played in the Bay Area; I’m comfortable here; and people say what they say, but I think at the end of the day when you look at the franchise, they want to win. They’ve won before, [and] they know how to do it.”

“They have great players, [and] great coaches. So, I don’t see why people wouldn’t want to come here,” Chapman added. “I know that a lot of people have reached out and said they want to come play here and told me that, so I think if that’s [the] narrative, it’s going to change.”

Other Notes:

Giants Play-by-Play Announcer Duane Kuiper praised Manager Bob Melvin’s old-school approach on “Giants Talk” with NBC Sports Bay Area Giants Beat Writer Alex Pavlovic, and Cole Kuiper. He mentioned the departure from the way Gabe Kapler managed the team the last four seasons.

Kuiper also noted the fact that the Giants are taking infield drills every day. It is a drill that Melvin has long employed, as well one Bruce Bochy used when managed the Giants from 2007 to 2019.

Former Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Matt Chapman (right) signed a deal with the San Francisco Giants on Fri Mar 1, 2024 for three years (AP News file photo)

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants have agreed to a three-year, $54 million contract with free agent third-baseman Matt Chapman, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

It’s another signing for the Giants, as well as Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi, who had himself a busy off-season. First came the signing of Korean outfielder, Jung-hoo Lee. Then there was the signing of pitcher Jordan Hicks, and then the signing of Jorge Soler to a three-year deal.

Now, Chapman comes to the Giants, and will be their everyday third-baseman. While Chapman will not provide the Giants with the most efficient bat, he does have power, but most importantly, Chapman, a four-time Gold Glove winner, will provide strong defense at the hot corner.

Chapman will make $20 million this season; $18 million next season; and $16 million in 2026. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Chapman will have opt-outs after each of the first years of the deal.

The question is what will happen to JD Davis, whom the Giants acquired from the New York Mets at the Trade Deadline in 2022, and who came into camp expected to be the Giants’ everyday third-baseman.

Davis is off to a fast start this spring, going 4-for-9 with a pair of home runs. Perhaps Davis could be a power bat, who could come off the bench to hit a home run late in the game.

Chapman is the second of the ‘Boras Four’ to be signed. Cody Bellinger was re-signed to a three-year, $80 million deal by the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. However, starting pitchers, Jordan Montgomery, and 2023 National League Cy Young Award Winner Blake Snell remain on the marker over a week into spring training games.

The Giants could also be in on Snell, who would provide depth to an interesting pitching rotation. Logan Webb enters his third season as the Giants’ ace, and while he heads the rotation, he is joined by Jordan Hicks, who is being converted from a reliever into a starter, as well as young left-handed prospect, Kyle Harrison.

If Hicks and Harrison pan out, the addition of Snell, as well as the potential for Carson Wisenhunt to be called up later this season could suddenly give the Giants one of the strongest rotations in Baseball.

Other Notes:

The Giants beat the Texas Rangers, 11-5, at Scottsdale Stadium to get their first win of the spring. Despite strong offensive performances from the team, the Giants were the lone team without a spring training win coming into today.

Shortstop Brandon Crawford signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.

Crawford, who had spent all 13 years of his major league career with the Giants, and whose loyalty to the Giants dates back to his childhood in the early 1990s, told Andrew Baggarly, the Giants Beat Writer for The Athletic, that he felt like Zaidi did not want him back, despite his willingness to play multiple positions and be a mentor for prospect, Marco Luciano.

“The bottom line is I was not wanted back by the one person who[se opinion] matters,” Crawford told Baggarly. “So I went with a team that gave me a major-league contract,” implying that the Giants offered him a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.

Crawford also said that despite a good clubhouse, the last two years were not fun, and complained about not generally playing more than two games in a row, as well as the lack of communication by Manager Gabe Kapler.

Manager Bob Melvin has brought a new set of rules into the Giants Clubhouse, following the lack of rules and structure from his predecessor, Gabe Kapler.

Those rules include every player, coach and trainer being on the field for the National Anthem to show their opponent that they are ready to play. Melvin is also making his starting position players stay at the ballpark for a period of time after leaving spring training games.

Veterans, including Austin Slater have shown their appreciation of the new rules and structure in the clubhouse, following two years in which a lack of rules and structure led to disappointing seasons.

One last note to add to the end. The Giants also signed shortstop Nick Ahmed to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training. Ahmed, who turns 35 years old and has spent the entirety of his 10-year major league career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, seeks to make the team and have a bounceback season with the Giants. He has also expressed his ambition to win the Giants’ every day shortstop job. Ahmed made his debut this afternoon, and went 1-for-3 with a home run.

Stephen Ruderman is an MLB beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com