The San Francisco Giants decision to sign Matt Chapman to a six-year, $151 million deal didn’t come as a surprise. Chapman and the club had reportedly been in talks on a long-term extension, and they did just that before he could hit free agency in the winter.
Chapman, 31 years old, has put together one of the better seasons of his career. Outside of 2018 and 2019, Chapman has been as good as ever. He’s slashing .251/.334/.451 with a 124 OPS+.
When he produces at the plate, he’s a very valuable player. His 6.6 WAR ranks seventh in Major League Baseball, a good indication of what he’s done on the diamond.
The four-time Gold Glove Award winner and two-time Platinum Glove winner can pick it with the best of them. He’s had some issues offensively for parts of his career, but he’s never been a bad hitter.
If anything, it always felt like the Giants’ third baseman could be a bit better on that end.
Nonetheless, San Francisco locked him up, and for good reason. Not only does this take away one of their biggest free agency questions, but it gave a clear answer on the future of the organization.
There was some noise about the Giants moving on from Farhan Zaidi in the offseason, but after Chapman inked this deal, it wouldn’t make much sense to go in a different direction this winter.
Bob Melvin, who shouldn’t have been on the heat seat, also faced some backlash. Melvin and Chapman have an excellent relationship, which likely takes that possibility away, too.
Robert Murray of FanSided believes this move “likely ensures” that both will return in 2025.
“But it likely ensures that the Giants will retain Melvin and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi into 2025. Chapman and Melvin are close and it’s unlikely he would sign a contract without assurances from the team that Melvin wouldn’t return in 2025. It’s also unimaginable that the Giants would allow Zaidi to sign a player to a $151 million deal if they planned to fire him in a month.”
Zaidi is the one who the club should’ve thought about parting ways with. While it isn’t his fault they dealt with injuries, he needs to put together a better roster moving forward.
After committing $151 million to Chapman, Zaidi and the ownership group should be in a position to continue spending. Signing him to that lucrative of a deal to not improve the rest of the roster wouldn’t be logical.
Hopefully, San Francisco will do just that in a few months.
