Matt Chapman

Toronto traded with the Oakland Athletics for third baseman Matt Chapman, a magical defender, a capable hitter and the latest upgrade for this fun, ...

Essentially, there’s just not much downside here for the Jays. Chapman is a free agent in 2024. His defense would be enough to carry him even with a weaker performance at the plate. But given that there are no obvious signs of bad luck with batted balls or other clear source of his struggles that would be easy to address, it was surely a consideration for the Blue Jays, and it’s an open question of just what they’ll get from him at the plate this year. Just .403. His exit velocity, typically among the best in baseball, slipped to the middle of the pack. After a season-ending hip injury that required surgery in September ’20, he has struggled to regain his old level of performance at the plate. While reigning Cy Young winner Robbie Ray chose to walk in free agency and sign with Seattle, Toronto was quick to make other moves, including bolstering the rotation with a five-year deal for Kevin Gausman and a three-year deal for Yusei Kikuchi, and anchoring the bullpen with Yimi Garcia. The team was coming off its best performance in half a decade with a 91-win season in 2021.

In return for Chapman, the A's receive four prospects from the Jays: RHP Gunnar Hoglund, SS Kevin Smith, LHP Zach Logue, and LHP Kirby Snead. Hoglund is the ...

He still doesn’t throw hard, in the low-90s, but he adds some deception and several competent secondaries including a slider, change, and now the cutter. Prospects are difficult to predict so maybe some of these will be the ones who pan out as contributors, but it sure seems underwhelming at this time. That performance earned him seven games in the majors, where he used four pitches — a slider that got primary billing, two 93 mph fastballs (sinker and four-seamer) that each topped out around 94-95, and a changeup. Smith ranked No. 9 in the Jays system per Pipeline and No. 7 per BA. He’s a good defender with a plus arm who’s expected to be able to handle any of shortstop, second base, or third base, but there are questions about his inconsistent bat. He hit well in the lower-minors in 2018 but then stalled for a couple years, before bouncing back strong last summer in Triple-A and earning a brief MLB debut. This is the A’s third major trade in the past five days, as they embark on a rebuilding process.

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- The Blue Jays have agreed to a deal to acquire star third baseman Matt Chapman from the A's for a package of prospects, the club announced ...

Coming to the Blue Jays with two years of team control remaining, Chapman is projected by Cot’s Contracts to earn $9.85 million in his second year of arbitration. Logue has some helium after fanning 10.4 batters per nine innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, and he will be making a jump in the 2022 rankings. In 2021, Chapman hit just .210 with a .717 OPS and 27 home runs over 151 games. Last year, we saw him a good bit and I didn’t want to see him hitting against us. The trade doesn’t come as a surprise, though, after star first baseman Matt Olson was dealt to Atlanta on Monday for another package of prospects. Kevin Smith, one of the club’s top infield prospects who made his MLB debut in ’21, will also head to Oakland, along with left-handers Zach Logue and Kirby Snead.

Jays, I thought we had a deal; you don't do things before 8:00 am my time, and I don't whine and complain. The trade is official, pending physicals.

I was wondering if the Jays would be in on him. He's a right-handed hitter, so it doesn't help the Jays' need for a lefty bat, but he fills our need at third base. He wasn't great last year, hitting .210/.314/.403, with 27 home runs, but is an excellent glove, 8.8 URZ/50 last year (he owns three Gold Gloves). And has a ton of power. The Cubs signed Seiya Suzuki, for $85 million over five years. Smith wouldn't seem to have a position with Chapman coming. Logue and Snead were likely to be depth arms this year.

The Blue Jays bolstered their already-great infield on Wednesday.

At minimum, he's a readymade low-cost relief option for an Athletics team that continues to stripmine its roster of veteran pieces. Oakland has Nick Allen, one of the top defensive shortstops in the minors, nearing his own debut; Smith, then, might want to plan on making the hot corner his own. Logue's best pitch is his changeup and he creates deception with a lower arm slot. There's no way of knowing how much of Chapman's recent issues are due to his hip, and there's no way of knowing if he'll be able to return to his old form. For as good as he was prior to 2020 -- and he looked like one of the best players in the game -- there's a lot of uncertainty about where he goes from here. When he was healthy, he established himself as a polished right-hander with good command and a spin-heavy arsenal, including a fastball that can touch into the mid-90s and a cutter-like slider. (To wit, Statcast's calculations suggest he would've homered an additional five times last year had he played his games at Rogers Center.) There's real upside here, in other words; there's just more downside than you might think. That combination, strikeouts and pop-ups, now eats up such a great share of Chapman's plate appearances that he'll be hard pressed to post a decent average. His average flyball distance was also the worst of his career, at 319 feet. With that out of the way, let's rehash the specifics of this trade: It doesn't do much to calm anyone's nerves that Chapman: A) underwent hip surgery in 2020 that ended his season early; and B) saw his ball-tracking metrics crater last year. From Oakland's perspective, Chapman is the second Matt the Athletics have traded this week, joining new Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson. Factor in right-handed starter Chris Bassitt, who was dealt to the New York Mets last weekend, and the Athletics' rebuild is well underway.

The fire sale continues for the Oakland A's, who are shipping their veteran third baseman to Toronto on Wednesday.

It was a very disappointing season from an offensive standpoint, but there's a ton of potential in left in there for the 28-year-old. In the biggest move, they shipped first baseman Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves, effectively ruling last season's World Series champions out of the sweepstakes for franchise legend Freddie Freeman. They also traded All-Star starting pitcher Chris Bassitt to the Mets and rumors have circulated on them dealing fellow starters Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea along with outfielder Ramon Laureano. Oakland has reached an agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade that will send All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman north of the border, the teams announced.

TORONTO (AP) — All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players on ...

The Oakland Athletics reportedly are trading All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman to the Toronto Blue Jays for a package of prospects.

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Morosi credited Carlos Baerga with the first to report the trade. The return to Oakland is not yet known. The 28-year-old Chapman, a three-time Gold ...

The Jays lost stars Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray in free agency. He batted .210 with a .314 on-base percentage, .403 slugging percentage, .716 OPS, 27 homers, 15 doubles, three triples, 75 runs and 72 RBIs in 151 games (622 plate appearances). The Red Sox certainly have plenty of competition in the AL East. The Blue Jays arguably have the best roster.

Blue Jays fans woke up to some great news on Wednesday, as they are reportedly acquiring Matt Chapman from the Oakland A's to upgrade their infield.

It’s not yet known what the return for Chapman will be, but it likely doesn’t preclude the Blue Jays from adding another impact bat before their offseason is complete. However, if Chapman can rediscover his batting stroke, one that saw him finish 6th in AL MVP voting in 2019, and 7th the year before, the Blue Jays may have just stolen another star third baseman from the A’s. Blue Jays fans woke up to some great news on Wednesday, as they are reportedly acquiring Matt Chapman from the Oakland A’s to upgrade their infield.

TORONTO (AP) — All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players on ...

TORONTO — (AP) — All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players on ...

Blue Jays Athletics Trade Baseball FILE -O akland Athletics' Matt Chapman hits a two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in Detroit. All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. “We, in this group, know that the focus has to be on our work and getting prepared for a season.’’ Blue Jays Athletics Trade Baseball FILE -O akland Athletics' Matt Chapman hits a two-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, in Detroit. All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman was acquired by the Toronto Blue Jays from the payroll-shredding Oakland Athletics for four players on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. A lot of emotions, but I think it’s going to be an amazing next couple of years.” He is expected to join the Blue Jays on Thursday. He was a first-time All-Star in 2019.

The fire sale continues for the Oakland Athletics, who traded All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman to the Toronto Blue Jays,

It's the second time in eight years the A's and Blue Jays completed a deal for an All-Star third baseman with multiple seasons before free agency. His offensive production has fallen over the past two seasons, but the Blue Jays hope he can recapture the years when he was an MVP candidate from 2018-19, finishing in the top 10 in voting each year. The fire sale continues for the Oakland Athletics, who traded All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman to the Blue Jays, Toronto announced Wednesday.

The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Oakland Athletics third basemen Matt Chapman for Kevin Smith and other prospects, per reports.

While Chapman does fill the needed infield hole and brings offensive upside he's the latest right-handed bat in a lineup almost exclusively built of them. The former first-round pick has flashed a high offensive ceiling in the past though, posting three-straight seasons with an OPS over .800 from 2018 to 2020 and earning MVP votes in '18 and '19. The right-handed hitter hit .210, knocked 27 homers, and posted a .716 OPS in 151 games.

The Oakland A's have reportedly traded third baseman Matt Chapman to the Toronto Blue Jays.

He put himself on the prospect map in 2021 with a solid season as a starter between AA and AAA. Smith, 25, was the Jays’ fourth round pick in 2017. Chapman, 28, was the A’s first round pick in 2014 out of Cal State-Fullerton, and has manned the hot corner for them since the middle of 2017. His bat dropped off, however, as he slashed just .210/.314/.403 on the year, after having put up a .259/.341/.510 slash line over the previous three seasons. Snead, 27, is a lefty relief pitcher who put up a 1.58 ERA in AAA for the Jays in 2021, and a 2.35 ERA in 7 innings in the majors. Apparently, though, that’s not the case.

The Blue Jays and A's are deep in discussion on a trade that would send third baseman Matt Chapman to Toronto. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.

Looking ahead, it’s not really a question of whether any of those players will be traded — but rather one of who’ll be the next to go. Even when batters held the platoon advantage, they mustered only a .186/.278/.245 output against Snead. He’s been a pure reliever throughout his professional career, but that dominance against both righties and lefties mitigates any specialist concerns and gives him the chance to be a multi-inning option. The A’s have added a notable influx of talent to their system, and the Chapman return in particular features the largest crop of MLB-ready talent they’ve picked up thus far in their offseason dealings. BA ranked him as the game’s No. 91 prospect in the 2018-19 offseason, and while a poor first showing in Triple-A dropped his stock, last year’s excellent rebound restored a good bit of faith in his abilities. Scouting reports generally don’t peg Logue as more than a fourth starter, but if he’s able to realize that potential, there’s quite a bit of value in six-plus seasons of a No. 4 starter. In 125 innings between the two levels, Logue notched a 3.67 ERA with a strong 28.2% strikeout rate, an even better 5.3% walk rate and a 38% ground-ball rate. Given the presence of all-world defensive prospect Nick Allen in the upper tiers of the Oakland system, it seems quite possible that Smith’s eventual home with the A’s will be either third base or second base. Much of Hoglund’s future depends on how he recovers from Tommy John surgery, but he’d been described as an advanced college arm with mid-rotation upside and a potential quick path to the big leagues. Turning the Oakland’s return, they’ll acquire one high-end but far-off pitching prospect, Hoglund, and a trio of largely MLB-ready pieces in Smith, Logue and Snead. Hoglund was the No. 19 overall draft pick in 2021 and might well have gone in the Top 10 selections had he not required Tommy John surgery during last year’s NCAA season. Still, he’ll be locked in as the Toronto third baseman for at least the next two seasons. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $9.5MM this coming season and will be owed one more raise for the 2023 campaign before reaching free agency in the 2023-24 offseason. However, even if he doesn’t return to his MVP-caliber levels from 2018-19, the new three-true-outcomes version of Chapman was still worth 3.5 wins above replacement per both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs last season.

Chapman has spent his entire five-year major-league career in Oakland after being drafted by the A's with the No. 25 pick in the 2014 draft.

Chapman has spent his entire five-year major-league career in Oakland after being drafted 25th by the A's in 2014. Oakland has already made a splash since the lockout ended, trading first baseman Matt Olson to the Braves in exchange for four prospects on Monday. The Blue Jays have acquired All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman from the Athletics in exchange for four prospects, Toronto announced Wednesday. The prospects include right-hander Gunnar Hoglund, shortstop Kevin Smith and left-handers Zach Logue and Kirby Snead.

The Blue Jays acquired Matt Chapman on Wednesday in a blockbuster trade with the Oakland Athletics. Here are the grades.

This is an arm that could instantly make an impact in the Majors with the Athletics. Kevin Smith could potentially make the bigs out of camp and had a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays last season. Lastly, Kirby Snead. He pitched 7.2 innings in the show in ’21, posting a 2.35 ERA. Snead is a guy who can also make an immediate impact for Oakland out of their bullpen. But, the Blue Jays already have a very promising rotation and numerous bullpen arms who can come in and shut the door. For the Blue Jays, this is such an important move because they needed an upgrade at third. Espinal and Panik aren’t much of an offensive presence, while Biggio is suited better at second base or the outfield.