San Francisco Giants Legend Instrumental in Getting Major Extension to Finish Line

The San Francisco Giants might not have gotten Matt Chapman's extension completed if not for a club legend.

Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants saw catcher Buster Posey excel behind the plate for them for twelve years, winning Rookie of the Year in 2010, a National League MVP in 2012, and establishing himself as a franchise legend.

It turns out, he wasn't done with delivering in the clutch just because his playing days ended. Now that he's officially a member of the franchise's ownership group, Posey is still providing for San Francisco.

The recent extension signed by current third baseman Matt Chapman, spanning six years and $151 million, almost didn't happen. Chapman, represented by super agent Scott Boras, was widely expected to opt out of his remaining contract and test free agency this winter, as many Boras clients tend to do.

That was, until Posey intervened.

The Athletic reported this morning that Posey went around Boras to personally negotiate the structure of the contract directly with Chapman, agreeing to a full no-trade provision (something that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi had been unwilling to offer Chapman to that point) with $25M annual salaries in all six years and a $1M signing bonus.

Posey's actions were endorsed by the full executive ownership board of the Giants, which Posey joined after purchasing a minority ownership stake in the team in 2022 upon retiring from the league. Per The Athletic's report, the feeling among the executive board was "impatience" with Zaidi, although Posey approaching Chapman directly was also seen as an attempt to circumvent Boras and his strong preference for his players to reach the open market rather than sign extensions.

Last offseason, the "Boras Four" of Chapman, fellow Giants signee Blake Snell, starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery and outfielder Cody Bellinger, were all unsigned as spring training opened and ultimately signed shorter deals with player opt-outs and higher annual average value than the long-term deals they were seeking.

One player, Montgomery, has since changed agents, moving from Boras to Wasserman's Joel Wolfe and Nick Chanock.

Chapman's extension has the potential to finally give San Francisco that keystone player to build around after failed pursuits of Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge, and Carlos Correa in past offseasons. This year, the third baseman is batting .247 with a 777 OPS. His 6.7 WAR is second among NL position players, behind only Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani. He's collected 60 extra-base hits this season, the most for a member of the Giants since Kevin Pillar in 2019.