SAN FRANCISCO — When the Giants announced their six-year extension with third baseman Matt Chapman earlier this month, some observers were quick to connect the dots between the future of president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and ownership approving a $151 million commitment to a player.
Surely the Giants’ embattled chief baseball architect’s job is safe if he is negotiating franchise-altering contracts, right?
Except those dots weren’t as connected as one might assume. According to sources, the Giants’ executive board led by Buster Posey became so frustrated by the lack of immediate progress between Zaidi and agent Scott Boras after talks began in August that the ownership group took action. Sources said Posey personally dealt with Chapman to hammer out the basic structure of the contract, which includes a full no-trade provision — one of the sticking points that Zaidi had not included in the team’s initial proposal.
Chapman did not dispute this characterization of his contract negotiations but otherwise declined comment, saying he preferred to move forward because the people involved are all still part of the organization. The extension Chapman signed was straightforward — $25 million annual salaries for six years and a $1 million signing bonus — and will begin next season while superseding his previous three-year contract that included two player opt-outs.
Sources interviewed for this story were granted anonymity in exchange for their candor about topics that they were not authorized to address publicly. They described an ownership group that valued Chapman’s shining work ethic as much as his steady contributions on the field, that viewed the 31-year-old as someone who could instill both continuity as well as a culture change, and that was adamant to avoid a repeat of last offseason, when a standoff between the Giants and Boras lasted until mid-March.
It was an ownership group that viewed re-signing Chapman as a slam dunk — and did not trust Zaidi and Boras to finish at the rim.
Chapman didn’t sign with the Giants until midway through spring training. (Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)
Back in March, Zaidi was praised for exercising patience before securing a series of below-market free-agent contracts while seemingly addressing every major roster need. Zaidi signed Chapman to a three-year, $54 million deal with player opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. The Giants also waited until March to sign free-agent designated hitter Jorge Soler and left-hander Blake Snell.
But waiting so long might have had consequences this season for a roster that never came together, never won more than four consecutive games, and is all but mathematically certain to miss the postseason for the fifth time in Zaidi’s six seasons. The Giants will be hard pressed to achieve just their second winning season under Zaidi; after getting swept at home by the San Diego Padres following Sunday’s 4-3, 10-inning loss, the Giants are 72-78 and distantly fourth in the National League West.
Neither Soler nor Snell consistently performed up to expectations. Soler was so unproductive that Zaidi dumped the remainder of the disappointing slugger’s three-year, $42 million contract on the Atlanta Braves at the July 30 trade deadline. The pursuit of Snell was opportunistic this spring when the left-hander’s market didn’t develop, but the two-time Cy Young Award winner was not physically ready to start the season and went on the injured list twice because of a strained groin; he had a 9.51 ERA in six starts through the end of June and the Giants had to survive for several weeks by filling in bullpen games around a rotation that was down to opening-day starter Logan Webb and converted reliever Jordan Hicks.
Free-agent catcher Tom Murphy, who signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract earlier in the offseason, quickly became an unplayable albatross who further complicated matters by ensuring that former top prospect Joey Bart, who was out of minor-league options, would be lost to the waiver wire at the end of spring training.
By comparison, Chapman has been a smashing free-agent success story. He entered Sunday with a 122 OPS+ and his 60 extra-base hits (36 doubles, a team-leading 24 home runs) are the most by a Giant since Kevin Pillar in 2019. He has started 145 of 150 games — he was a late scratch on Sept. 4 because he had to take a physical before signing his extension — and played 96 percent of the team’s defensive innings at third base. With his steady and often spectacular defense at third base fueling his value, Chapman’s 6.7 bWAR ranked behind only Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani among National League position players coming into Sunday’s games. And Chapman is a longtime favorite of manager Bob Melvin as well as third base coach Matt Williams from their time together in Oakland.
Chapman has delivered everything that the Giants prize and more. So when extension negotiations did not wrap up swiftly in August, Posey and the ownership group decided enough was enough.
Although sources who characterized the Chapman discussions described impatience with Zaidi, Posey’s direct involvement also allowed the front office to cut through any perceived interference from Boras, who continued to advise Chapman that the Giants’ offer would serve as a potential floor on the open market this winter. Zaidi, as the club’s chief baseball officer, did not have the same latitude to circumvent Boras and deal directly with Chapman.
Zaidi declined to comment on the specifics of negotiations but said it was not unusual for ownership to have a hand in talks.
“I viewed myself and ownership working in total sync,” Zaidi said. “This was a priority to get done. I’d expect them to be heavily involved in a deal of this magnitude and they were.”
The real question is how much patience the ownership group will have with Zaidi, the team’s top baseball official who led them to a franchise-record 107-win season in 2021 but increasingly appears out of step with their organizational priorities.
Although Zaidi’s contract is guaranteed through next season with a club option for 2026, sources indicated that his contract status would not be an impediment if the executive board decides a change is warranted. In the meantime, Zaidi continues to oversee efforts for 2024 that include attending budget meetings and reorganizing the pro scouting staff. The Giants informed four pro scouts last week that their contracts would not be renewed as the team shifts from blanket coverage of the minor leagues to a more focused, special assignment approach.
Clearly, the changes are just beginning. But how high will they go?
Posey’s direct involvement in the Chapman negotiations is the latest signal that the former franchise icon will play an active role in the Giants’ foundational decisions going forward. So it’ll be hard to imagine that Zaidi would continue in his current role if he and Posey do not align often enough on organizational priorities or if they are not able to bridge any difference in their baseball sensibilities.
Posey purchased a minority interest in the team in 2022, just months after he announced his retirement. He occupies one of six seats on the board of directors. And he made it clear as recently as last week that he is dissatisfied with the state of the team.
“No question, I don’t think anybody’s happy with where we are,” Posey said in a Sept. 10 interview with George Kontos of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“We’re the San Francisco Giants,” Posey continued. “Our goal is to win the division each year and be in a position in the playoffs to compete for a world championship. So on that front, nobody’s satisfied whatsoever. But locking down Matt Chapman is huge for us. I was such a big fan of his when I played against him and getting to watch him this season, (I’m) even more of a fan. I just think he’s the type of guy you want on the field because you know he’s going to bust his tail every day, he’s going to do everything he can to be on the field. Not to mention he’s supremely talented. But a guy who’s willing to post and be out there, I just have so much respect and value for a player like that.”
Before the ink had dried on Chapman’s contract, the three-time Gold Glove third baseman spoke of representing the Giants and reaching out to potential free agents. Right-hander Logan Webb and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski also have pledged to be more outspoken while selling the attributes of playing in San Francisco and for an organization that has a reputation for treating its players well. Perhaps it isn’t Zaidi’s fault that the Giants came up empty in high-profile pursuits of players including Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto — or that a failed physical scuttled Carlos Correa’s $350 million agreement when the Giants were on the verge of announcing it two seasons ago.
But as Posey said in an interview with The Athletic last winter, this is a results-based business.
“Throughout my career, I would’ve rather had three broken-bat hits in a game than three lineouts at somebody,” Posey said last December. “For people to say, ‘Well, you did everything you could. You hit the ball on the nose.’ It’s like, yeah, but ultimately you want results. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result and so, you know, we’ll keep pushing.”
With Chapman, Posey and the ownership group determined that an extra push was required.
(Top photo of Chapman and Boras at the extension press conference: Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
