Not even much talk regarding interest in some of the best bats on the market. Among them is third baseman Matt Chapman, about whom there has been no word since a report on December 4 that the Cubs were monitoring his market. Chicago is one of only a few teams connected in any way to the four-time Gold Glover winner. The Giants, who are currently managed by former A’s manager Bob Melvin, have been linked to the Blue Jays all offseason, and the former have indicated interest in getting back together.
That trio is the most likely set of suitors. Though they haven’t added anyone from the open market, the Cubs have been linked to many free agency targets, including Ohtani, Cody Bellinger, and Shota Imanaga. Chicago has an unimpressive bunch of third base possibilities in Nick Madrigal, Patrick Wisdom, Christopher Morel, and Miles Mastrobuoni. They also allowed Candelario to walk.
This is the first major move Toronto has made at the position since Chapman became a free agent. Isiah Kiner-Falefa was signed by them last week for a two-year contract. He would be more effective as a utility player than a starter. The Jays might switch things up at the hot corner with Kiner-Falefa, Davis Schneider, Santiago Espinal, Cavan Biggio, and youngster Addison Barger. But no one in that group is a glaring obstacle for Chapman.
The Giants have a superior option at third base in-house than either Chicago or Toronto thanks to J.D. Davis. With a career batting average of.261/.343/.432 and a recent season of slightly above average play, Chapman isn’t a particularly offensively superior player to Davis. On the other side of the ball, the story is different.
Throughout his career, Davis has been a marginal to below-average defender. A season ago, Statcast’s Outs Above Average gave him a favourable rating with the glove, but not many would contend that his defensive value is all that close to Chapman’s. The Giants’ batting average on ground balls to the left side of the diamond was only surpassed by the A’s batting average the previous season. While some of that can be attributed to the shortstops (namely Brandon Crawford) and pitching staff, Chapman’s signing would solve that shortfall.
