SF Giants entertaining long-term contract for their best position player

The best position player on the SF Giants this year has been third baseman Matt Chapman. The free agent signing has provided value both with his bat and his glove. Recent reporting suggests the Giants may entertain a long-term deal with him.

SF Giants may be interested in locking Matt Chapman down to long-term deal

This reporting comes via New York Post reporter Jon Heyman. He writes that the Giants do have interest in signing Chapman to a long-term deal. He does not give any sort of specifics, but it makes a lot of sense that the Giants would want to keep him on the team.

In the offseason, the Giants signed Chapman to a 3-year, $54 million contract. However, the contract came with a player opt-out after 2024 and 2025 meaning that Chapman could opt out of the deal and reenter free agency at either of those points.

With how well he has played this season, it would not surprise anyone if he opted out of the deal. Entering Saturday's game, the 31 year old has a slash line of .246/.335/.446 with 19 home runs and 57 RBI. Even though he has 13 errors on the season, he has still been invaluable for the team on defense as he has more than made up for his mistakes with phenomenal plays.

The Giants would be wise to do whatever they can to ensure Chapman is on the team going forward. Yet, it is not clear what sort of "long-term deal" they are entertaining. Chapman will be 32 next year, so it does not seem likely that the Giants are going to give him a 5-year contract. But they may be more inclined to renegotiate his deal and give him a 3-year deal that pays something like $20-25 million per year but does not have any options in it. This would give Chapman some security and a pay raise and would also give the Giants a very solid third baseman for likely the final years of his prime.

Some may worry that this would be like Evan Longoria all over again where the Giants got him as he began to decline and get injured. This is a valid concern. Longoria had a sterling record of staying on the field prior to joining the Giants in his age 32 season. He began to get injured and did not play in more than 129 games with the Giants. Yet, sometimes risk is necessary when landing a free agent. Especially when the Giants have no obvious replacement at third base.

The Giants have been lacking recognizable, everyday players for some time. Chapman is by no means a superstar, but he is a really solid baseball player who you can count on to be on the field and who would make the Giants a better team the next few years.