Chapman brings superb defense, 'destiny' with BoMel to Giants

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Chapman didn’t know exactly where his protracted free agency would wind up taking him, but he felt the pull to return to the Bay Area once the Giants hired Bob Melvin to be their new manager in October.

Chapman, of course, played under Melvin for five seasons in Oakland, sparking persistent offseason rumors about their possible reunion with the Giants. The months of speculation finally came to an end on Monday, when Chapman finalized a one-year, $18 million deal with San Francisco that includes player options in 2025 and '26, as well as a mutual option in '27.

“You have hopes, you play around with ideas in your head, but it was hard to really predict what was going to happen,” Chapman said prior to the Giants' 12-10 loss to the Rockies on Monday. “But I knew BoMel going to San Francisco, it just seemed like it was destiny. I think we’ve got some unfinished business.”

Chapman’s ties to Melvin were perhaps the most obvious factor linking him to the Giants, but the match makes sense on several other levels, too. A two-time Platinum Glove winner and a four-time Gold Glover, Chapman should significantly upgrade the Giants’ infield defense and help support a pitching staff that led the Majors with a 48.7 percent ground-ball rate in 2023.

“We talked about our objective of improving our defense, especially in a way that benefits our pitching staff,” president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said. “We obviously have a ground-ball-heavy pitching staff. With this notion of really upgrading our pitching and defense, he’s really the perfect fit for this team.”

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Chapman, who will turn 31 next month, is known for his exceptional range and his incredibly strong arm, which could help make life easier for No. 2 prospect Marco Luciano at shortstop. Melvin noted that another former A’s infielder, Marcus Semien, developed into an elite shortstop thanks in part to Chapman, who helped take some pressure off him early in his career.

“He’s very tenacious,” Melvin said of Chapman. “What [third-base coach] Matty [Williams] talks about, with the closing speed and how he’s able to play deep because of his arm, which increases his range, the farther away you are, the more time you have to get to a ball down the line, in the hole. It allows us to do something a little bit different sometimes with the shortstop, too, with his range over there. As far as defense goes, there’s kind of nobody better.”

The Giants’ defense has been a glaring weakness in recent years, but Zaidi addressed that deficiency by bringing in two talented fielders in Chapman and center fielder Jung Hoo Lee over the offseason. The left side of the infield could become even more dynamic with the possible addition of two-time Gold Glove winner Nick Ahmed, a non-roster invitee who is competing with Luciano for the open shortstop job this spring.

“Super excited,” Chapman said. “I love being able to be in the action. I love when pitchers throw strikes, get ground balls and let me and the infielders do our thing. It keeps you in the game, it keeps you engaged. I’m sure now with the pitch clock and guys [getting] ground balls, there will be no down time, so I’m looking forward to it.”

While Chapman should bring steady value with his glove, the Giants will be hoping for more consistency at the plate, where he batted .240/.330/.424 with 17 home runs and 165 strikeouts over 140 games with the Blue Jays in 2023. Chapman enjoyed a scorching start to the season, earning American League Player of the Month honors after recording a 1.152 OPS in April, but his production dipped after he sprained his right middle finger.

Chapman said the injury affected the accuracy of his barrel and prevented him from settling into a rhythm at the plate, though he still ended up posting a 56.4 percent hard-hit rate that ranked first among qualified Major League hitters last year. Those underlying metrics are part of the reason the Giants believe Chapman can return to the offensive heights he enjoyed in Oakland, where he crushed a career-high 36 home runs during his All-Star campaign in 2019.

“It was definitely a strange market this year,” Chapman said. “The free-agent process was a little abnormal, but our goals were to either get a long-term contract that we felt that I was worth, and if not, get the short-term contract with opt-outs and bet on myself."

Could Chapman's arrival bolster the Giants' case for signing reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell? Agent Scott Boras, who represents both players, certainly believes so.

“He’s a very dominant talent,” Boras said. “I think if you look at what Blake did with Manny Machado, a Gold Glove defensive third baseman [in San Diego], you kind of correlate that to what he would do with a guy like Matt Chapman.”