Chapman excited to grow with start of Giants’ ‘championship-type’ team

Chapman excited to grow with start of Giants’ ‘championship-type’ team originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Familiarity with the Bay Area, a comfort level with manager Bob Melvin and a legitimate self-belief that he can win a World Series championship with the Orange and Black was all it took to convince Matt Chapman to agree on a six-year extension with the Giants.

That and a cool $151 million made it a no-brainer for the four-time Gold Glove third baseman.

“I couldn’t be more excited just to continue to build off what we started this season,” Chapman said during Thursday’s press conference at Oracle Park before San Francisco’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “I think this organization has the beginning of a championship-type ballclub year in and year out. That’s what excites me.

“As far as the contract goes, I’m super excited. I think it’s going to work out great for both sides. This last offseason was a little strange with the free agent market but I was willing to bet on myself. I believed in myself and believed that the Giants would see my value as the season went on and what I bring every single day and just trying to win baseball games and be a great teammate and give everything that I have. I’m excited to give everything that I have for these next six seasons and see where it takes us.”

Keeping Chapman in the fold was high on general manager Farhan Zaidi’s To-do list heading into the offseason. The 31-year-old has been the Giants’ best all-around player this season. In addition to anchoring the corner of San Francisco’s infield with his defensive prowess, Chapman entered Thursday leading the Giants in hits, doubles, home runs, RBIs, walks and runs scored.

Rather than taking those skills back on to the free agent market to see what his value might be on other clubs, Chapman opted for the comforts of staying in San Francisco.

“This feels like home for me,” Chapman said. “It feels like I’ve been here a lot longer than just one season, from top to bottom. Whether it’s the players, the staff, the front office, everybody wants to contribute and do everything we can to help the players and help them win. That’s a huge part of it. I love my teammates. I see the talent. We have a lot of young talent mixed with some guys here that have been around. The front office is always going to go out and try to get players to make this place better every single year. I truly believe that they’re going to do everything in their power to win, and that lines up exactly with my goals.”

Giving Chapman an extension now rather than risk losing him in free agency – the third baseman had an opt-out after the 2024 season in his original contract – could benefit the Giants by helping to attract free agents to the Bay Area market.

That’s been an issue for the Giants in the past. In recent years they’ve been rebuffed in efforts to sign players like Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa. Having locked down Chapman for the foreseeable future, that narrative might be changing.

“I’ve already had people reach out to me saying now that I’m here that they want to come here,” Chapman said. “I don’t think that it’s going to be a hard sell. This organization is amazing. They do everything they can for the players. We have a lot of good players. I just think that we’re going to continue to build here and I think that people will see that from the outside.”

Having the opportunity to continuing to play with Melvin as his manager also factored into Chapman’s decision to sign the extension. Chapman spent his first five MLB seasons playing under Melvin when the two were across the San Francisco Bay with the Oakland A’s.

“I guess having Bob here helped a little bit,” Chapman joked. “That was a huge reason me even wanting to come here in the first place, just how much I enjoyed playing for BoMel in Oakland. Having somebody like that every single day that’s as consistent as he is, he is just prepared every single day. Makes the environment always a good place to be and the clubhouse is a good place with him in charge. I want to play for him and that’s a huge factor in me wanting to be here. He has all the same goals that we do.”

Melvin noted that Chapman has elevated himself to a team leader during his first season with the Giants and has not been hesitant to speak out when the need arises.

“The performance speaks for itself but I think it’s a lot of the intangible things that kind of make him who he is and make him such a great fit here,” Melvin said.

Chappy loves playing for Melvin and Melvin loves coaching Chappy 🤝 pic.twitter.com/nKjYP9p5IB

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 5, 2024

Zaidi said discussions about an extension began a few weeks ago, matching up almost identically to something that Chapman spoke about in spring training.

“I was thinking about when we signed the deal back in spring training and I think Matt commented, ‘The goal is to have a great year and to be talking about an extension in mid-August,’ ” Zaidi said. “I think he nailed that to a tee.

“It’s a testament to our motivation and how important we feel Matt is to the future of this organization.”

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