Giants reportedly add top free agent hitter

Third baseman Matt Chapman, one of the top remaining available free agents, is reportedly headed to San Francisco.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported late Friday night that Chapman and the San Francisco Giants agreed on a three-year, $54 million deal.

The deal will pay Chapman $20 million in 2024, $18 million in 2025 and $16 million in 2026. He will have a player option though for both the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Chapman hit 17 home runs and slashed at .240/.330/.424 with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023. In two years with the Blue Jays, he slashed .234/.327/.429 and hit 44 home runs. He figures to be part of a new-look Giants lineup, which will include fellow free agent Jorge Soler Jung-hoo Lee.

In addition to his bat, Chapman has also been one of MLB’s top defensive players throughout his career, winning four Gold Gloves at third base (including 2023) and two Platinum Gloves. The general feeling in the aftermath of the deal being reported was that it was a good one for the Giants.

This will be a return to the Bay Area for Chapman, who broke into MLB in 2017 with the Oakland Athletics. Chapman played with the A’s through the 2021 season before getting traded Toronto, where he spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons. It will also reunite him with Bob Melvin, who managed Chapman during his entire time in Oakland. Like Chapman, Melvin left the A’s after the 2021 season.

With Chapman off the board, reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell (who the Giants have also shown interest in) and Texas Rangers pitcher Jordan Montgomery are the two big-name free agents remaining.

Chicago Cubs Viewed as Landing Spot for Giants Slugger

Despite re-signing Cody Bellinger, there may still be a need for lineup help for the Chicago Cubs.

As currently constructed, the Cubs could have a better season at the plate than last year, but an argument to be made that the lineup might not be as good as a season ago.

Bellinger returns coming off one of his best seasons, but there is still the matter of losing Jeimer Candelario leaving in free agency. The Cubs’ offense will be reliant on others to step up.

One name that could make sense for Chicago is San Francisco Giants corner infielder J.D. Davis.

“That upside could make Davis an attractive target for a team lacking in certainty at the infield corners, such as the Cubs,” writes Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors.

His price shouldn’t be much in terms of trade value.

Davis, 30 years old, slashed .248/.325/.413 with 18 home runs for the Giants in 2023.

He’s hit 18 or more home runs in the two seasons that he’s played in over 140 games. Davis is a hitter who can give the Cubs some flexibility in their lineup. As a corner infielder, he can help at first as the Cubs break in young Michael Busch.

The return of Bellinger helps the lineup, but the only other major signing for the Cubs was pitcher Shota Imanaga. Wrap that up in a host of minor-league deals and a couple of minor trades, it has not been the offseason the Cubs were hoping for.

Davis won’t change an average offseason to a great one, but he could help.

The Cubs have a chance to compete in the National League Central and once a team gets into the postseason, anything can happen.

Davis can give them productive at-bats and in a small trade right before the season, that’s all they can ask for.