Throughout the MLB offseason, the Hot Stove hasn’t really been hot many often. In roughly five weeks, pitchers and catchers will report to spring training, and a number of elite free agents still need a new deal. Matt Chapman of third base is one of the players. His talents could be useful to the San Francisco Giants, and he has some contacts along the Bay that might come into play.
On December 27, Jon Heyman of the New York Post became the latest to link Chapman to the Giants. Ken Rosenthal restated the extent to which Chapman would mesh well with San Francisco in a story published on January 8 for The Athletic. He also talked about the three different relationships that people in the company had with the seven-year veteran.
Before joining the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 and 2023, Chapman was a player for the Oakland Athletics for five seasons. Rosenthal pointed out that at different points in Chapman’s career, three current Giants employees were all affiliated with Oakland.
When Chapman first started working for San Francisco, Farhan Zaidi, the president of baseball operations, was employed in Oakland. Throughout the third baseman’s tenure with the team, Bob Melvin, the new manager of the Giants, led the A’s squad. Not to mention, Matt Williams, the third base coach for San Francisco right now, was an A’s player in 2018 and 2019.
Despite only having attended one All-Star Game, Chapman offers a special skill set to any team that signs him. Although his offensive output hasn’t been very good since the beginning of 2022 (.756 OPS), it hasn’t affected the way he fields his position.
Chapman has received two Platinum Glove Awards in addition to four Gold Glove Awards. Rosenthal mentioned that the Giants could benefit from his durability and defensive brilliance in 2024 and beyond.
In 2023, Chapman made 140 appearances for the Blue Jays. Since 2018, it was his fifth appearance in at least that many games. He only missed one game during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, which saw him participate in 37 out of 60 games.
Pitchers have always been welcome at Oracle Park. As Statcast classified it as baseball’s sixth-worst ballpark for offense in 2023, that trend persisted. This might present a challenge for Chapman. After an extremely good start (1.152 OPS in March/April), he stumbled to a.240/.330/.424 line with 17 home runs and 54 RBI in 2023. However, it’s possible that a change of environment and familiar faces could enable him to regain the MVP-caliber output he demonstrated in 2018 and 2019.