Matt Chapman 'In Talks' With San Francisco Giants; Mariners and Cubs Remain Possibilities
The San Francisco Giants are "in talks" with free agent third baseman Matt Chapman, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.
Heyman spoke about Chapman during his weekly Bleacher Report Hot Stove live stream on Tuesday. Here is what he had to say about the third baseman, as well as his potential fit with the Giants:
“The Giants have been in talks with Chapman, that makes the most sense. Are they guarding against, bidding against themselves? I’m not sure. Obviously, they have the money, it is a big-market team with huge revenue that’s gonna get even bigger now that the A’s are really basically giving up on the Bay Area. I don’t know where they’re playing, what’s going on with them, but they wanna be in Las Vegas. So, I mean, the Giants have a lot of money and they did sign (outfielder Jung-Ho) Lee, which is a nice thing, $113 million. I’m not saying they should be keeping up with the Dodgers, but they should get going on something, whatever that is. The Giants are in talks with Chapman at this moment, but we’ll see. Chapman would make sense, to me, for Seattle, would make sense for the Cubs. So he probably has some other alternatives, he is one of the best fielding third basemen in baseball. And one of the best all-around third basemen.”
USA Today's Bob Nightengale also pegged the Giants as a possible landing spot for Chapman over the weekend, right after the team freed up $9.25 million by trading pitcher Ross Stripling to the Oakland Athletics.
Spotrac is projecting Chapman to score a six-year, $103 million contract, while MLB Trade Rumors predicted he would earn a six-year, $150 million deal earlier in the offseason.
Chapman, who turns 31 years old in April, has been one of the top power-hitting and defensive third basemen in baseball over the past few seasons. He lost a bit of pop at the plate in 2023, however, as his 17 home runs and 54 RBI with the Toronto Blue Jays were his fewest in a full season since his rookie year with the Athletics in 2017.
Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, Chapman has appeared in an average of 149 games a year since 2018. He is a .240 lifetime hitter, boasting a .790 OPS and 31.2 WAR.
Chapman has averaged 29 home runs, 80 RBI, 36 doubles and a 5.8 WAR per 162 games in his career.
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