DUNEDIN, Fla. — Matt Chapman may have more to offer in the coming year than any other player in the Blue Jays clubhouse.
The third baseman is entering his second and possibly final season with the Jays. He is a pending free agent and one of the top players expected to be available in next year’s class.
It’s one of several reasons Chapman feels he has to win now. He made two trips to the playoffs with the Oakland A’s in 2018 and 2019, but Chapman called last year’s version of the Jays the best team he’d played on. He expects the Jays to do even better this season and it’s unclear if such a good opportunity to win a World Series will arise again.
An added benefit of the Jays’ contender status is that Chapman will remain focused on the field. As a clubhouse leader, that was never an issue, but when the Jays are struggling, it could be easy to ignore the leaderboard in favor of personal stats. That shouldn’t be a problem this season, and if all goes well, Chapman, with the help of agent Scott Boras, will position himself to secure a massive payday at the end of the year.
“I’m human, I know this is my free agent year,” Chapman said. “It’s a big and important year but I have a pretty good resume and if I play every game to win, take care of business and help this team win, I know what happens in the off-season after that is going to change take care of it yourself. That’s the perspective I take and I just have faith that I can go out there and play and help this team win.
Many fans urged the Jays to sign Chapman for a long-term renewal during the offseason. The three-time Gold Glove winner looks perfect in third place to cover up some of Bo Bichette’s defensive weaknesses. His racquet also has a lot of power that should keep up with the new dimensions at Rogers Centre.
But striking a new deal before Chapman hit the open market didn’t seem realistic for either party. When he joined the Jays, the free hand was already in sight, and Boras is an expert at pitting teams against each other to secure the highest dollar. It’s extremely rare for one of their top clients to forgo free agency in favor of a team-friendly deal.
The Jays don’t seem to have much of a problem waiting it out. Bichette recently signed a three-year deal covering his arbitration year and Vladimir Guerrero Jr will only get more expensive from now on. The Jays are a luxury tax-paying team, but there are limits to how much owners are willing to spend. Their success this season, or lack thereof, will help dictate the budget, which could impact Chapman’s bid.
“I know the Blue Jays want me here and they want me here,” Chapman said. “I know I want to continue to be here and be part of this team. I’m sure we’ll have talks along the way, but when I signed that two-year deal I figured they’d have to pay Bo and Vladdy and all these young guys.
“So I wasn’t sure what to expect, I was excited to get out of the arbitration, not having to deal with it, and I felt fortunate to have some reassurance. I kind of always expected to play through the two years and see what would happen. That doesn’t mean I’m not open to possible possibilities, but that’s not entirely up to me.”
Chapman is coming off a season in which he hit .229s with 27 home runs and 76 RBIs. The power combined with the stellar range in third place meant he finished 2022 with 4.1 wins over the reserve, according to FanGraphs. Only Bo Bichette (4.5) and George Springer (4.2) were worth more.
Now imagine how much better the Jays would get if Chapman rediscovered the slap punch from earlier in his career. In 2018 and 2019, he averaged 30 home runs with a .263 average and an .856 percentage on the base plus slugging. He finished in the top 10 in both years of voting for the AL MVP award and had a combined fWAR of 12.
Chapman, who ended up changing his kick to a toe tap, hopes some mechanical adjustments will bring him back to that earlier form. The goal is to go the reverse route more regularly while reducing his strikeouts, which hit 170 last year.
Additionally, he had no complaints about his first season in Toronto.
“My wife and I love the city, so I think it was a best-case scenario,” Chapman said of the move to the Jays. “We had an amazing experience last year and I think that this year not only with the team but also with the city and getting used to the customs, the specifics of Canada and I think we will have an even more enjoyable year. “
A big year at the plate would make him a lottery winner. It would also help the Jays meet their high expectations, which for him was the whole point of trading.
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