Jeff Passan, ESPN
Third baseman Matt Chapman and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a six-year, $151 million contract extension Wednesday night, preventing the veteran from opting out of his current deal to reach free agency.
The deal, which begins in 2025 and replaces the final two years of a three-year, $54 million contract he signed earlier this year, includes no deferred payments and a full no-trade clause, sources told ESPN. The deal expires in 2030, when Chapman will be 37.
Chapman, 31, has been one of the most productive players in baseball this season, combining a powerful bat with the best third-base defense in the major leagues. And less than a year after his free-agent market collapsed, Chapman has parlayed his strong season into a big payday — and secured himself a $170 million-plus payday between this season and the end of the extension.
It’s a stunning turnaround from last winter, when Chapman’s free agency dragged on and landed him in San Francisco. All three years of his contract included opt-out clauses, and Chapman came into spring training saying he wanted to bet on himself rather than sign a lesser, long-term deal.
The gamble paid off. With a .247/.333/.445 average, Chapman has an adjusted OPS 21% above the league average. His 22 home runs and 56 extra-base hits lead the Giants. And his glove, already a four-time gold medalist, could be worthy of platinum this season.
All of that puts him atop the game-long Wins Above Replacements charts. His 6.0 WAR from Baseball-Reference is the ninth-highest in baseball. At FanGraphs, it’s 4.5 WAR, 13th among position players. It’s reminiscent of the seasons that gave Chapman his first two Gold Gloves and his only All-Star appearance.
When he arrived in Oakland in 2017, Chapman had demonstrated minor-league power that would later place him among the game’s exit velocity giants. Chapman’s ability to hit the ball extremely hard — he’s 98th percentile in bat speed and 96th in average exit velocity — has persisted, and it’s given the Giants the kind of confidence to pay him late into his 30s.
It was also a matter of necessity. At 68-72, the Giants are once again one of the most disappointing teams in baseball. San Francisco has hovered around .500 each of the last three seasons after a 107-win campaign in 2021, and that has left fans disenchanted and vocal about potential changes within the organization.
With president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi negotiating the deal with Chapman’s agent, Scott Boras, Boras doubled down on one of his winter successes. Another client, left-hander Blake Snell, is also a Boras client who is expected to opt out of his contract and sign for much more than the $60 million San Francisco guaranteed him for two years over the winter.
Chapman had expressed interest in staying with the Giants, and talks of an extension — a rarity for a Boras client set to enter free agency — have taken place 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 at times this season: center fielder Heliot Ramos, catcher Patrick Bailey, shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald and left-hander Kyle Harrison.
With Chapman off the market, the free-agent class that isn’t loaded with top-tier offensive options is getting even smaller. New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto is the prize of the bunch, and after Chapman signs, teams hungry for a third baseman will turn their attention to another Boras client, Alex Bregman. Teams that could be in the market for a third baseman include Bregman’s current team, Houston, as well as the New York Mets (if Pete Alonso leaves and Mark Vientos moves to first base), the Yankees, Seattle and Toronto.
Other top free agents include Alonso, Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames, Baltimore outfielder Anthony Santander, Arizona first baseman Christian Walker and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez.
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