*Photo from CTV News Toronto*
Another key free agent is finally off the board. 3B Matt Chapman and the San Francisco Giants have agreed to a one year, $18 million contract, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network. The team has confirmed the news.
Chapman will earn $16 million in 2024 with a $2 million signing bonus. He has a $17 million player option for 2025 with a $2 million buyout, a $18 million option for 2026 with a $3 million buyout, and a $20 million option for 2027 with a $1 million buyout. With Chapman having turned down a qualifying offer from the Toronto Blue Jays at the start of the offseason, the Giants will forfeit their second round pick while the Blue Jays receive a 4th round compensatory pick.
Last season was Chapman's second in a Blue Jays uniform after he was traded by the Oakland Athletics. He had a .240/.330/.424 slash line with a 108 OPS+, hitting 39 doubles and 17 home runs with 54 RBI's in 140 games. He had one hit in 8 plate appearances over two playoff games.
Chapman excels defensively at 3rd base, which will be a boon to the Giants. In 2023, he had 12 defensive runs saved and 5 outs above average, ranking him in the 87th percentile in that category. He is also a 4 time gold glove winner and a two time platinum glove winner at 3rd base.
At the start of 2023, Chapman tore the cover off the ball and was the AL player of the month for April after leading all hitters with a 1.152 OPS and a 219 wRC+ (100 is league average). He unfortunately fell off after that, slashing .205/.298/.361 with a 29.8 percent strikeout rate for the rest of the year.
Chapman has played two years for the Blue Jays and 5 for the Athletics, debuting in 2017 as a first round draft pick from the 2014 draft. He has a .240/.329/.461 slash line with a 117 OPS+ to his name, hitting 155 home runs and driving in 426 over 868 games. He has 6 hits and one RBI over 26 plate appearances in 6 playoff games.
With the Giants, Chapman joins incumbent corner infielders JD Davis and Wilmer Flores, with Chapman becoming the 11th infielder on the Giants 40 man roster.
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