After former A’s All-Star first baseman Matt Olson landed an eight-year, $168 million contract extension with the Atlanta Braves last week, another corner infielder recently traded from Oakland also agreed to a new deal with his new club.
Despite a similar track record of success, Matt Chapman’s extension with the Toronto Blue Jays looks nothing like the mega-deal Olson secured in Atlanta.
According to ESPN, Chapman and the Blue Jays avoided arbitration Tuesday as the three-time Gold Glove Award winner at third base signed a two-year, $25 million deal with Toronto.
Chapman was projected to earn $9.5 million in 2022 by MLB Trade Rumors, but will instead receive a $1 million signing bonus and earn $12 million in each of the next two seasons. Chapman was expected to become a free agent after the 2023 season, so his extension does not change his timeline for hitting the open market.
Why the disparity in contracts?
Atlanta clearly viewed Olson, 27, as the long-term replacement for Freddie Freeman, 32, who signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers after the Braves traded for Olson last week. Atlanta was comfortable paying a premium for Olson, who enjoyed the best season of his career in 2021, was under club control through 2023 and could have hit free agency at the age of 29 if he did not sign a new contract.
Chapman, 28, had major hip surgery in 2020 and was only a league-average performer at the plate last season. It’s possible he’ll return to the form he showed in 2018 and 2019 when he finished among the top seven in American League MVP vote-getters each year, but the short-term extension maintains his free-agency timeline and affords him some financial certainty heading into his tenure as the Blue Jays’ third baseman.
