Third baseman Matt Chapman bet on himself, and it paid off big time. He and the San Francisco Giants inked a six-year, $151 million contract extension Wednesday night, beginning in 2025 and running through the 2030 season, when Chapman will be 37.
Six months ago, this may have been the best-case scenario Chapman was envisioning. After five seasons with the Oakland A‘s and two with the Toronto Blue Jays, his free agency dragged on until March, with him struggling to find a deal for the 2024 season. So he took a flier on what was basically a one-year, $18 million deal with the Giants (which included player opt outs for 2025 and 2026), hoping to parlay that into something more down the road.
And did it ever pay off for him. He’s currently hitting .247/.333/.445 and leads the Giants in home runs (22), doubles (33), extra-base hits (56), hits (126), runs scored (90) and RBI (69). He’s played in 135 of the Giants’ 140 games this season, and covered third base with Gold Glove defense (he’s won four of those prior to this season).
With Chapman’s solid season now in the home stretch, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Giants wanted to get a deal done before the end of the season, when Chapman would have the opportunity to opt out of his contract and possibly earn more elsewhere. And with Chapman repped by baseball mega-agent Scott Boras, the team didn’t want to mess around.
This contract is a bright spot in another mediocre season for the Giants. They’re 68-72 and 8.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the third wild-card spot. It doesn’t seem that a postseason trip is likely for them this year, but with Chapman locked in through 2030, that’s one less thing they have to worry about as they prep for 2025.
