Late Wednesday night, it was announced that the San Francisco Giants and third baseman Matt Chapman agreed to a six year contract worth $150 million. This deal will get rid of the next two option years on his contract and start next season. On Thursday, Chapman and Giants brass spoke with the media regarding to new contract.
“I couldn’t be more excited to just continue to build off what we started this season and I think this organization has the beginning of a championship type ball club year in and year out and that’s what excites me,” Chpaman began.
Originally, Chapman signed a three year, $54 million deal that included opt outs after each of the first two years. Now, he’s locked up for the foreseeable future and he clearly believes in the young talent that San Francisco has showcased this season.
“As far as the contract goes, super excited, I think it’s going to work out great for both sides. You know, this last offseason was a little strange with the free agent market. But I was willing to bet on myself. I believed in myself and believed that the Giants would see my value and the season went on and what I bring every single day,” the 31-year-old continued.
Chapman has had a bounce back year after what was a relative down year in 2023 by his standards. So far this season, he has only missed three games and leads San Francisco in most major categories including doubles (33), home runs (22) and RBIs (69). Additionally, he leads the team with 6.0 bWAR, which is eighth in all of baseball.
Not only has the third baseman been a leader on the field, he is already getting to work on his off the field duties as one of the faces of the Giants.
“I’ve already had people reach out to me saying that, you know, now that I’m here they want to come here, so I don’t think it’s going to be a hard sell. This organization is amazing, they do everything they can for the players and we have a lot of good players and I just think we’re going to continue to build here. I think people will see that from the outside and I don’t see that ever being an issue,” Chapman said.
A big talking point around San Francisco this offseason was its inability to sell the city to free agent players. Chapman, being one of the most respected veterans in baseball, will now not only be part of that selling point, but will have to work on it as well. It seems he is already doing that.
“I guess have Bob here helped a little bit. That was a huge reason of me even wanting to come here in the first place was just how much I enjoyed playing for BoMel in Oakland,” Chapman explained when asked about manager Bob Melvin.
There was a lot of excitement coming into the 2024 season surrounding the Giants, and a big part of that was Chapman and Melvin. Now, with Chapman locked up, it sends a signal to other free agents that be have been wary of San Francisco as a city. Regardless, the team now has one of the veteran leaders ready to go as the third baseman of the future.
