Blue Jays acquire Oakland A’s all-star third baseman Matt Chapman in trade

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This article was published 16/03/2022 (1615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired Oakland Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman in a trade, a day after general manager Ross Atkins said the club expected to add another infielder before opening day.

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi and former Major League Baseball player Carlos Baerga were among the first to report a deal was in the works before it was officially announced Wednesday.

Chapman, 28, is former first-round pick from the 2014 draft, who has spent his entire MLB career to date in Oakland. A three-time Gold Glove winner and all-star in 2019, he hit 27 home runs in 2021 for the A’s. He is a career .243 hitter, with an all-time OPS of .808. Still, it will be shoring up Toronto’s defence that the Jays are more interested in when it comes to Chapman.

The Jays are sending prospects Kevin Smith, last year’s first-round pick Gunnar Hoglund (a right-hander recovering from Tommy John surgery), Zach Logue and Kirby Snead to Oakland.

Chapman called Wednesday morning “crazy” but told reporters at spring training in Mesa, Ariz. that he was excited to be joining an “amazing organization” that he has heard nothing but good things about. Having played against the Jays, Chapman said he knows how talented Toronto is.

“It’s a team that’s ready to compete now and they’re ready to win and go for it, so I couldn’t be happier to go join that,” he said.

Between the Jays’ stocked farm system and Oakland in rebuild mode, sending prospects to California makes sense for both teams.

“Hoglund was well on his way to becoming a consensus top-10 pick in this year’s draft until he suffered an elbow injury in May,” the Star’s Gregor Chisholm wrote last year. “Tommy John surgery brought a premature end to his season, caused his stock to drop and put the Jays in position to reap the benefits of what they feel is a top talent with the 19th overall pick. If his elbow was healthy, Hoglund never would have been an option this late in Round 1.”

Third base has been an area of need for the Jays since the organization said goodbye to another player it acquired from Oakland to man the hot corner, Josh Donaldson. While Atkins said on Tuesday that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could spend some time at the position in 2022, the Jays prefer him at first base. That left the likes of Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal as internal third baseman options, making it an area where Toronto thought it could improve.

Trading Chapman is Oakland’s second big deal of the week, after the Athletics dealt first baseman Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves. The A’s got four prospects in return, including arguably Atlanta’s top two up-and-comers in outfielder Cristian Pache and catcher Shae Langeliers, who are both among the top 100 prospects in the game. Right-handers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes were both considered among Atlanta’s top 15 prospects.

That deal came after Oakland had already said goodbye to right-hander Chris Bassitt, who landed with the New York Mets. The team is also reportedly willing to part ways with starters Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea.

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Saying goodbye to Oakland, the organization that drafted him and where he met a lot of his best friends, is sad, Chapman said. He leaves behind many great memories. But he said he is happy to go somewhere that offers an “incredible opportunity.”

“A lot of emotions but I think it’s going to be an amazing next couple years,” Chapman said.

MLB analyst Jim Bowden reported Chapman’s trade to the Jays means the push to sign former Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman is now down to four teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox.

One thing Chapman doesn’t provide the Jays is a left-handed bat, which could leave the door open for another free agent signing by Toronto. The Jays had been linked with slugger Kyle Schwarber, but he reportedly agreed to a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.

Laura Armstrong is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @lauraarmy