Matt Chapman has made a name for himself, not only as the A's steadfast third baseman but as one of the better defenders in all of Major League Baseball.
With all of Chapman's recent success and the latest contract extension given to designated hitter Khris Davis, could he be the next long-term deal for the Green and Gold? Well, maybe. But we won't know for a while.
“I’d be lying to you if I told you I didn’t think about it,” Chapman recently told The San Francisco Chronicle in a podcast. “It’s one of those things that would be a dream come true. It’s something I’ve worked my whole life for is to play baseball, and ensure myself and my family are taken care of, and all I have to worry about is going out there and getting better and helping my team win, which to me sounds like a dream come true."
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SIGN UP HERE Chapman, of course, knows there's a business side to it as well.
"I have to take advice from my agent and my family to try to figure out what’s best for me and my future," he told Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser. "I do want to be a part of this team, and I would love to be extended and play a long time. But it has to be fair for both sides. Hopefully, we can get something done.”
Chapman's agent, Scott Boras, is no stranger to making sure these deals take place. He's also not known for having one of his clients re-sign with a team. But Boras spoke to Slusser earlier in the week about it all, and there was some promise behind his comments.
“People say we don’t do them, but I have a number of examples that we do,” Boras said Monday. “But they’re major economic commitments when you’re talking about players of that ilk. We keep our ears open and listen and talk to ownership regularly about it, and Oakland is in a place where they have a lot of promise that requires definition, that requires sureties that they’re going to have a stadium.”
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When the A's signed Davis to that two-year extension, it appeared the team was headed toward a future full of commitment. Sure, the A's got a phenomenal deal on the 31-year-old, who said many times that he loves playing in Oakland, but Chapman could be a different story.
And if the new stadium goes as planned, that could be the perfect selling point to not only make sure Chapman, who is a free agent in 2024, stays with a team whose fan base simply adores him. It also could assist in bringing even more talent to The Town.