Giants fans and the organization alike celebrated earlier this month when Matt Chapman signed a six-year, $151 million contract extension that will keep him with San Francisco through the 2030 MLB season.
As one of the brightest spots in an otherwise subpar 2024 season for the team, securing the Gold Glove third baseman long-term ahead of his chance to opt out later this year certainly was important to the fan base -- and the Giants' executive board, led by former catcher Buster Posey.
After extension talks between Chapman and the Giants began in mid-August, the team's ownership group eventually felt forced to take action amid frustration with some elements of talks and the pace, The Athletic's Andrew Baggarly reported Sunday, citing sources.
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Posey even went so far as to personally work with Chapman on the contract's structure, Baggarly reported, citing sources, ensuring the full no-trade clause that wasn't included by Zaidi in the Giants' original proposal was there.
"(When) extension negotiations did not wrap up swiftly in August, Posey and the ownership group decided enough was enough," Baggarly wrote.
A source familiar with discussions disputed parts of that characterization. Zaidi and Boras negotiated financial terms of the deal, a source told NBC Sports Bay Area, making progress the previous weekend, with Boras flying out to San Francisco to attend the signing and press conference.
Regardless, Posey and the ownership group's impatience is understandable. The Giants signed two of Boras' top clients -- Chapman and Blake Snell -- in the offseason, but negotiations did not wrap up until spring training had already started. Snell, in particular, was impacted by the late start, and the Giants were eager to avoid that situation this winter.
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While the Giants eventually completed their offseason overhaul, the team fell woefully short of expectations this season. But Chapman emerged as a leader in San Francisco with 24 home runs and a .777 OPS to match so far -- something Posey certainly admired from his prominent place within the organization. Now, Chapman is a building block for the future in San Francisco.
“Locking down Matt Chapman is huge for us,” Posey told NBC Sports Bay Area's George Kontos in a recent interview that aired Sept. 10. “I was such a huge fan of his when I played against him. Getting to watch him this whole season, [I’m] even more of a fan. He’s the type of guy you want on the field because you know he is going to bust his tail every single day. He’s going to do everything he can do to be on the field.
“Not to mention, he’s supremely talented. But a guy who’s just willing to post out there, I just have so much respect and value for a player like that.”
In comments to Baggarly, Zaidi characterized Posey's involvement as "not unusual."
“I viewed myself and ownership working in total sync,” Zaidi told Baggarly. “This was a priority to get done. I’d expect them to be heavily involved in a deal of this magnitude and they were.”
In the previously mentioned interview with Kontos, Posey made it clear that the Giants' ownership group isn't satisfied with the team's recent performance, stating, "No question, I don’t think anybody’s happy with where we are."
That being said, it appears as if Posey is willing to roll up his own sleeves and do the work himself to get the Giants back to the franchise he knows they can be.
Alex Pavlovic contributed to this story.
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