The Giants are interested by free agent third baseman Matt Chapman, stories Jon Heyman of The New York Put up, although he provides that the Blue Jays are making an enormous push to maintain Chapman.
Chapman, 31 in April, has been a speculative match for the Giants this offseason for a number of causes. For one factor, the membership’s new supervisor Bob Melvin was the skipper in Oakland whereas Chapman was there. Past that, it’s broadly believed that the Giants are planning so as to add a star participant or two this winter after simply lacking on Aaron Choose and Carlos Correa a yr in the past.
The Giants have additionally had some query marks round their protection lately, which occurs to be Chapman’s specialty. After profitable 107 video games in 2021, the membership fell to .500 in 2022, with glovework seeming to play a job in that. The membership was collectively graded as being price -53 Defensive Runs Saved that yr, the worst mark within the majors, whereas their tally of -33 Outs Above Common was third worst. In 2023, they acquired the OAA into the highest 10 however their DRS was nonetheless within the backside third, which maybe helped contribute to a different underwhelming season.
Chapman has been the most effective defensive third basemen within the league throughout his profession, having present counts of 92 DRS and 53 OAA since his 2017 debut. The previous quantity is tops within the majors throughout that timeframe whereas the latter quantity is second solely to Nolan Arenado.
His bat has been a bit much less constant, significantly in 2023. He completed the season with a batting line of .240/.330/.424 and a wRC+ of 110, although in pretty uneven vogue, having excessive highs and low lows all year long. Some have framed his yr as a scorching sizzling April adopted by 5 tepid months, however Chapman was additionally fairly sturdy in July, hitting .247/.402/.506 that month for a wRC+ of 154.
On August 13, when Chapman harm his finger in a weight room incident, he was slashing .255/.346/.449 on the yr for a wRC+ of 121, which was pretty according to his 118 wRC+ from the yr earlier than. He tried taking part in by means of the finger situation, even happening the injured listing for a time, however hit simply .163/.250/.302 the remainder of the best way, diminishing his full season manufacturing.
Blaming the damage could be a charitable means to take a look at issues but it surely stands to motive that the membership that indicators Chapman might be going to be one that appears on him favorably and is extra keen to miss the ultimate weeks of the 2023 marketing campaign. His 28.4% strikeout charge for the yr provides some pause however optimists can look to his 10.7% stroll charge and bloody Statcast metrics. MLBTR predicted Chapman to get a contract of six years and $150MM.
The Giants used J.D. Davis as their major third baseman in 2023 and he might be retained for another season through arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting a wage of $6.8MM in 2024. He had a high-quality season, hitting 18 house runs and slashing .248/.325/.413 for a wRC+ of 104. Hitting has all the time been his forte, together with his protection extra questionable. DRS continued to frown on him in 2023, giving him a grade of -11 for the yr, pushing his profession mark to -38. OAA gave him a +5 on the yr however his profession tally remains to be simply -7.
Davis is a wonderfully serviceable participant on the sizzling nook however Chapman would clearly be an improve. If the Giants have been capable of get a deal performed with Chapman, Davis would nonetheless have a little bit of commerce worth given his modest wage, maybe permitting the Giants to place him in the marketplace and bolster their roster elsewhere.
Becoming Chapman onto the Jays’ roster is probably a neater match, since he might simply slot again into his outdated spot. The Jays are recognized to be in search of a number of place gamers in an effort to improve their lineup this winter, which might embody a Chapman reunion. The membership already provided him an extension in some unspecified time in the future, although Chapman turned it down. However they’re additionally wanting into Shohei Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, Jeimer Candelario and others. Candelario, particularly, would doubtless be a backup plan for the occasion that they don’t retain Chapman. Candelario can be a 3rd baseman however doesn’t have the identical observe report as Chapman, thus resulting in a lesser contract projection of 4 years and $70MM.
As talked about, the Giants are clearly in search of a major improve this winter, having been linked to massive names like Ohtani, Bellinger, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and others. Chapman is on the listing as effectively however they determine to be competing with the Jays and different golf equipment for most of the identical targets.
Each golf equipment appear to have some powder dry for such pursuits. Roster Useful resource at present pegs the Giants’ payroll at $147MM subsequent yr. They’ve been within the $200MM vary previously, giving them loads of room to work with. If their want for star participant additions this winter is as sturdy as suspected, maybe they’re keen to push that and subsequently have much more room. The Jays are at $205MM for subsequent yr, per RR, however with a bigger arbitration class and some non-tenders might give them some extra respiratory area. Their aggressive stability tax calculation is at present estimated at $216MM, with subsequent yr’s base threshold at $237MM. The Jays have been keen to pay the tax final yr membership president/CEO Mark Shapiro has instructed the payroll state of affairs needs to be in roughly related vary to 2023.
