Third baseman Matt Chapman and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a six-year, $151 million contract extension late Wednesday, preventing the veteran from opting out of his current contract and entering free agency.
The deal, which begins in 2025 and replaces the final two years of a three-year, $54 million contract signed earlier this year, has no deferred money and a full no-trade clause, according to ESPN. The agreement will end in 2030, when Chapman will be 37.
Chapman, 31, has been one of baseball’s most productive players this season, with a strong bat and the greatest third-base defense in the majors. And, less than a year after his free agent market collapsed, Chapman turned his great season into a sizable payday, guaranteeing himself more than $170 million between this season and the expiration of the agreement.
It’s a dramatic turnaround from the winter, when Chapman’s free agency drew him to San Francisco. All three years of his contract featured opt-out clauses at the conclusion, and Chapman went into spring training stating that he preferred to bet on himself rather than accept a smaller long-term deal.
The bet paid off. Chapman’s adjusted OPS is 21% higher than the league average, with a line of.247/.333/.445. He leads the Giants with 22 home runs and 56 extra base hits. And his glove, which has already won four gold medals, has the potential to become platinum this season.
All of this pushed him to the top of the wins above replacement leaderboards throughout the game. His 6.0 Baseball-Reference WAR are the ninth most in baseball. According to FanGraphs, he has 4.5 WAR, which ranks 13th among position players. It’s reminiscent of the seasons when Chapman won his first two Gold Gloves and made his only All-Star appearance.
When Chapman came in Oakland in 2017, he had demonstrated power in the minor leagues, which would ultimately propel him to the game’s exit-velocity pinnacle. Chapman’s ability to hit the ball incredibly hard has maintained — he’s 98th percentile in bat speed and 96th in average exit velocity — and has given the Giants the confidence to pay him well into his 30s.
It was also a matter of necessity. With a record of 68-72, the Giants are once again among baseball’s most disappointing teams. San Francisco has finished around.500 in the past three seasons following a 107-win season in 2021, leaving supporters dissatisfied and vocal about prospective changes within the organization.
Farhan Zaidi, president of baseball operations, built on one of his winter’s triumphs by negotiating the contract with Chapman’s agent, Scott Boras. Another Boras client, left-hander Blake Snell, is poised to opt out of his contract and sign for a much higher salary than the $60 million San Francisco guaranteed him for two years during the winter.
Chapman had expressed interest in staying with the Giants, and talks about an extension — unusual for a Boras client about to approach free agency — began in recent weeks. Chapman joins a core that now includes right-hander Logan Webb (signed through 2028), center fielder Jung Hoo Lee (2029), and a group of young players who have shown flashes of excellence throughout the season, including Heliot Ramos, catcher Patrick Bailey, shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, and left-hander Kyle Harrison.
Now that Chapman is no longer available, the free agent class is even more depleted of high-end offensive possibilities. The prize of the group is New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto, and with Chapman’s agreement, third-base hungry teams will turn their attention to another Boras client, Alex Bregman. Bregman’s current team, Houston, as well as the New York Mets (if Pete Alonso goes and Mark Vientos moves to first), Yankees, Seattle, and Toronto, could all be looking for a third baseman.
Other notable free agency hitters include Alonso, Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames, Baltimore outfielder Anthony Santander, Arizona first baseman Christian Walker, and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.
