Matt Chapman can play a major role in the Giants’ direction this offseason.
Earlier this month, the Giants third baseman, with the involvement of franchise legend Buster Posey, signed a six-year, $151 million contract extension with San Francisco in what was a crucial move for the front office.
Now, as San Francisco heads into a significant offseason, Chapman has joined forces with teammate Logan Webb. Both stars are helping the Giants on the free agent recruiting side of the business, the ace detailed to The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly in an exclusive interview published Saturday.
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And they’ve already gotten started.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but (Chapman) is saying hi to everyone who gets to third base,” Webb told Baggarly. “Every player is going out of their way to say something to him. Maybe that’s a small thing. But I think that’s important for us in future offseasons. It’s been tough sledding (with free agents).
“I’ve been part of the conversations, and it’s hard when you put effort into a guy and he goes somewhere else. So having Chappy will help for sure. It won’t just be a right-handed sinkerball pitcher trying to get a position player to come hit here, right? I can’t tell them what it’s going to be like.”
This past offseason in what was a notable MLB free-agent market, San Francisco counted on franchise-legend-turned-part-owner Buster Posey and Webb to represent the player's perspective side of the franchise in its negotiations with free agents.
It worked, with Webb playing a fundamental role in helping recruit right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks, who signed a four-year, $44 million contract with the Giants.
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Earning himself a fundamental role with the Giants through 2030, Webb hopes the four-time Gold Glove winner’s leadership and play on the field can be leveraged to lure game-changing free agents to San Francisco this offseason.
And even though they won’t be able to sign them all, Webb recognizes that having Chapman by his side will make others listen.
“We’re still going to miss on guys,” Webb told Baggarly. “There are 29 teams who won’t sign (a free agent). But he’s very respected around baseball and they see how hard he plays every day and they want to be like that.
“It’s the same thing you saw with the Brandons and Buster and Longo (Evan Longoria). People around baseball wanted to play with those guys.”
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