Matt Chapman loses in his first kick at free-agent can

Former Blue Jays third-baseman heads back to familiar Bay Area

The usually plugged-in, baseball-insider website, MLB Trade Rumors, listed Blue Jays’ third-baseman, Matt Chapman at No. 7 on its Top 50 list of 2023-24 free agents. He ranked third on their list among position players, behind Shohei Ohtani and Cody Bellinger. Seemed about right. The MLBTR staff also suggested the soon-to-be 31-year-old might earn a contract of six years and $150-million, a deal that would seem more than fair for a four-time Gold Glove winner coming off a down season.

But, late Friday night, MLB insider Jon Heyman tweeted the news that Chapman had agreed to a FA deal with the San Francisco Giants, three years, $54-million ($20M-$18M-$16M) with a player opt-out after each season. Recall that the Jays had made a qualifying offer at the start of the free-agent process, back in November. The QO was one year, $20.325-million and was rejected.