Chapman on Posey's SF Giants offseason strategy: 'It's not all just on paper'

The SF Giants have been fairly quiet this offseason. While this may frustrate a lot of fans, there is still a lot of offseason left. The team's star third baseman Matt Chapman lent some insight into the team's offseason strategy in an interview on KNBR.

Chapman signed a six-year contract extension with the Giants back in September. He and Logan Webb are now the two main leaders on the team and will play a big role in trying to recruit free agents to San Francisco for years to come.

SF Giants star Matt Chapman provides insight into how Buster Posey will approach offseason

In the interview, Chapman was asked about the team's offseason strategy and what he has discussed with new president of baseball operations Buster Posey. Chapman said that Posey has consulted him about various players, asking him if he thinks they would be a good fit on the Giants.

This is part of what Chapman had to say: "That's what's nice about having somebody that understands the game of baseball. It's not all just on paper. It's about the guy, the player, and the person and, you know, the fit that they would have on the team."

Chapman went on to note that some players go to teams where it seems like they would succeed on paper, but maybe they were not super comfortable and they end up getting traded to another team and wind up having more success.

This shows that Posey is certainly taking a holistic approach to player acquisition. He is not just looking at who has the highest WAR, but he is going beyond that and see how a player could impact team chemistry.

Posey of all people should know how important team chemistry is to success. Chemistry was a huge part of all three World Series championships the Giants won. All three of those teams bought into a common goal and were willing to make personal sacrifices for the betterment of the team.

Posey saw firsthand how a trade for someone like Hunter Pence can impact a team. Pence did not hit well at all for the Giants after they traded for him at the deadline in 2012. He slashed .219/.287/.384 with 7 home runs and 45 RBI. Yet, it seems impossible that the Giants could have won the 2012 World Series without having a motivational leader like Pence who was able to rally the team when they were down two games to none against Cincinnatti in the NLDS and down 3-1 against St. Louis in the NLCS.

Perhaps that will be the biggest change between Farhan Zaidi and Posey. While Farhan often seemed to discount the importance of chemistry or things that cannot be quantified, as a former player Buster knows that stuff intuitively.

Matt Chapman's insight gives us a sense of what Buster Posey and the Giants will be looking for this offseason, and it is not just going to be guys with the highest on base percentage.