Blue Jays Acquire Matt Chapman from the Oakland A's
Blue Jays 3B Matt Chapman via NBC Sports
In the early morning of March 16th, the Blue Jays acquired platinum glove winner, Matt Chapman from the Oakland A’s. The A’s have made it known they are going through a complete rebuild and have started their fire sale just the other day when they traded away star 1B Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves. In the Matt Chapman deal, the A’s acquired Toronto’s top pick in the 2021 amateur draft, RHP Gunnar Hoglund, IF Kevin Smith, LHP Zach Logue, and LHP Kirby Snead. The main piece for Oakland is Gunnar Hoglund. Hoglund was ranked Toronto’s fourth best prospect and has a lot of upside. He is a high strikeout pitcher with a lot of pitches to work with. Now we turn our attention to the Blue Jays piece.
Matt Chapman was part of the dynamic duo in Oakland for the last few years with Matt Olson. Chapman is known for his glove at 3B, as he is a Platinum Glove Award winner, and has had two down seasons with the bat. That does not mean this isn’t a great move for Toronto. Chapman is expected to have a bounce back year and if so, the Blue Jays are looking like a very dangerous team. After the departures of two top players in IF Marcus Semien and LHP Robbie Ray, many expected the Blue Jays to take a step back. However, they are seemingly better than last year.
Matt Chapman is entering a lineup surrounded by guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Bo Bichette, George Springer, and Teoscar Hernandez. This team is stacked to say the least. Chapman will slide in as the everyday 3B and provide great defense as well as a rejuvenated bat. Let’s take a look at Chapman’s stats last year as well as his projected 2022 stats, via Fangraphs.
Matt Chapman in 2021
.210 BA, .716 OPS, 27 HR, 101 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
Matt Chapman 2022 Projected Stats
.226 BA, .769 OPS, 30 HR, 106 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
Chapman is due for a bounce back and the majority believe it will happen. Sliding Chapman into this Blue Jays team is a scary thought for many. Not only is this Toronto team filled with young and hungry bats, but their pitching staff is also deep. Given the division the Blue Jays play in, the best in baseball, adding a guy like Chapman is only going to intensify the AL East division even more. The best part for the Blue Jays in this trade is they didn’t have to give up a whole lot to acquire Chapman. It’s going to be interesting to see how this trade plays out but, it seemingly will do wonders for this young core of guys Toronto has blossomed.