Luis Arraez Open To Extension With Giants
The Giants are one of the few clear sellers and have one of the most obvious trade chips in Luis Arraez. However, he’s also open to staying around via an extension. “Yes, why not?” Arraez said to John Shea of The San Francisco Standard about the possibility. “Especially because this organization gave me a big opportunity to improve my defense. I would love to come back here. We’re still in the season, and I don’t think about that right now. But in the future, let’s see what happens. I’m open to listen to whatever they want to say to me.”
For Arraez personally, he should be looking to cash in on what could be a career year. He has long been known as the league’s best contact hitter. He doesn’t draw walks or have huge power but he’s tremendous in the batting average department. He racked up three batting titles from 2022 to 2024, hitting between .314 and .354 in those seasons. He dipped down to .292 last year but is back up this year, currently sitting at .326.
The big jump is on the defensive side of things. Arraez came up to the majors playing a decent amount of second base but never got good grades for his glovework. In 2024 and 2025, he spent more time at first base.
The Giants took a shot on him by giving him a one-year, $12MM deal and a chance to return to the keystone. He has responded by being better than anyone really expected. Defensive Runs Saved still considers him to be subpar but Arraez has been credited with ten Outs Above Average this year. JJ Wetherholt is the only player in the majors ahead of him in that category. With the improved glovework and his bat bouncing back, FanGraphs has credited him with 3.5 wins above replacement. That’s already a personal best even though barely half the season is in the books.
Arraez is set to return to free agency and should have greater earning power than he did last winter. It’s hard to pin down a value on him since he’s such a unique player but a multi-year deal at a comparable salary should be viable. If the Giants are interested in something like that, perhaps the two sides could have some conversations.
However, it’s also possible the Giants are looking to sell high on Arraez after they bought low on him. They are 39-54 and clearly going into the August 3 deadline as sellers, with Arraez being easily their best trade chip. Logan Webb is off the table. Their other impending free agents aren’t too enticing. Robbie Ray will get interest but his $25MM salary detracts from his appeal. The big names like Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Rafael Devers are reportedly available but those contracts are underwater.
Arraez is having a great season and is playing on a relatively affordable salary. The Giants could even eat some of that money if they want to maximize the prospect return. Though Arraez is playing second base now, some clubs could put him at first base or designated hitter, depending on their own needs. He will be the Giants’ best path to extracting some future talent from a lost season.
Trading Arraez could also have other benefits for the Giants, as it could open up a spot for Casey Schmitt. He is having a breakout season at the plate but doesn’t have a great defensive home. A natural infielder, he was recently forced to learn left field on the fly in order to keep his bat in the lineup. Devers, Arraez, Adames, Chapman and Bryce Eldridge have the infield and designated hitter spots covered. Schmitt is temporarily at third base while Chapman is on the injured list but Chapman will be back eventually. The Giants could trade Arraez and give Schmitt the second base job, for the rest of this year and next season as well.
Theoretically, a Chapman trade and an Arraez extension would be another route the club could take, with Schmitt moving to third. Chapman is much harder to trade, however. He is owed $100MM over the next four seasons, plus the remainder of this season’s salary. For a guy who is now 33 years old, that’s not an enticing contract for other clubs, especially since his offense a bit down this year. He’s also a California native and has a full no-trade clause, so he would need to be on board with any trade and it’s anyone’s guess how he feels about the possibility of leaving.
Trading Schmitt is another possibility but he is controlled for three seasons beyond this one and hasn’t yet qualified for arbitration. He could be an affordable part of the club for the next few seasons, a notable feature for a club apparently concerned about the current payroll commitments.
The Giants will presumably ramp up trade talks after the upcoming draft, like all clubs. They could explore various different scenarios but the most straightforward path is for them to trade Arraez. If they do want to try something different, such as a plan that involves Arraez staying in San Francisco, he’s open to talking about it.
Photo courtesy of Robert Edwards, Imagn Images
Giants Place Matt Chapman On Injured List
The Giants announced they’ve placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list with an abdominal strain. Utilityman Christian Koss is up from Triple-A Sacramento to take his place on the active roster.
Chapman suffered the injury in last night’s loss in Arizona. He charged and made a nice barehand play to retire Gabriel Moreno on a high chopper to end the sixth inning. Chapman was in some discomfort as he made his way to the dugout. He took an at-bat in the top of the seventh, popped out to first, and left the game. Luis Arraez moved to third base for the final few innings, his first action at the hot corner in four years. Jonah Cox, an outfielder, finished the game at second base.
Manager Tony Vitello told reporters (including Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News) that it’s a mild strain. He suggested Chapman could return before the All-Star Break, which would essentially require a minimal stint. Even if the Giants keep him down through the Break, that bodes well for his chances of being reinstated for the start of the second half. Chapman was going to end up on paternity leave this week regardless, and the Giants have already been playing shorthanded in the infield as Willy Adames nurses back spasms.
Adames is out again tonight, so Koss draws into the lineup at shortstop. Casey Schmitt moves to third base. They’re playing without a backup infielder, meaning Cox would presumably come off the bench if they have another emergency situation. Adames could be back in the lineup on Friday as the Giants kick off a series at Coors Field.
San Francisco is 15 games under .500. Minor injuries for Chapman and Adames don’t change much in the overall course of the season. It’s another minor impediment to what already looked like a long shot possibility that they’d find a taker for Chapman on the trade front. He’s playing on a $25MM salary and guaranteed $100MM from 2027-30. Chapman has a full no-trade clause and is hitting .235/.324/.368 across 352 plate appearances while playing his usual plus defense.
Posey Discusses Giants’ Deadline, No Plans To Trade Logan Webb
Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey met with the media on Tuesday afternoon. He predictably expressed disappointment with San Francisco’s place 15 games under .500 while alluding to an expected deadline sale.
“I think we’ll leave all options on the table,” Posey said (links via John Shea of The San Francisco Standard and Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle). “The way things are trending now, I’d say that we’ve got to remain open to seeing what best ways we can try to improve the club.”
Despite that, Posey seemingly wasn’t interested in hearing other teams out on his ace. Asked whether they’d consider trading Logan Webb, Posey simply replied “no.” Webb is signed through 2028 and has been arguably MLB’s best pitcher in June, rebounding from a shaky start to the season that included a three-week injured list stint for knee bursitis.
Posey’s comments align with a recent column from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, who reported that Webb would likely be off the table even as the front office prepared to sell. Impending free agents Luis Arraez, Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle will all be available. They’ll need to pay down a portion of Ray’s $25MM salary and might have a hard time finding a taker for Mahle. Arraez, however, could be the best rental position player who changes hands this summer.
San Francisco is open to shedding the long-term commitments to Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, and Willy Adames. Those are all above market value contracts, though, and they’d need to eat a significant portion of the Devers and Adames deals. Chapman, who is making $25MM this season and signed for $100MM from 2027-30, could get more attention from other clubs. Adames and Chapman also have full no-trade clauses in their respective deals.
[Related: The Giants Should Listen On Jung Hoo Lee]
Chapman, a Southern California native who has spent most of his career in the Bay Area, told Evan Webeck of The California Post last week that he hadn’t given the no-trade clause any thought. Chapman said he hadn’t heard anything from Posey about the possibility of a trade. Posey confirmed as much, telling reporters he hasn’t broached the subject with either veteran infielder.
Devers doesn’t have any no-trade protection, but he’s owed $211MM over seven years after this one. His .238/.302/.433 batting line would be his worst since his first full big league season in 2018. The three-time All-Star found himself at the center of controversy on Sunday when he attempted to wave off pinch-runner Jonah Cox in the ninth inning. Devers eventually ended up leaving the game and dodged a pat on the back from bench coach Jayce Tingler when he reached the dugout.
Posey said he hadn’t addressed the incident with Devers but would “probably sit down with him.” The first baseman addressed the media this afternoon and framed it as a misunderstanding with manager Tony Vitello (link via Maria Guardado of MLB.com).
“Two days before that, I had told him that I had a hamstring issue,” Devers said in Spanish. “I thought that was why he was taking me out of the game. That’s why I was trying to signal to him that I was fine. … I apologized, which was the right thing for me to do.” Devers added that he felt the media made the situation a bigger deal than it deserved, which he attributed to his tendency to avoid interviews. “Every time something happens with me, you guys (reporters) make a big deal out of it. I don’t care what you guys think of me because you guys are the ones who always focus on the negatives,” he concluded.
Vitello said there’s no issue and the situation was settled when the two spoke on the team’s postgame flight home from Miami. “I feel like Tony has the clubhouse,” Posey said of the first-year skipper. “I think he has the respect of the players in the clubhouse. Everything’s going to be heightened when our record is what it is, but there’s no concern on my part that he doesn’t have the respect of the clubhouse.”
Giants Reportedly Moving Towards Selling At Deadline; No Plans To Trade Logan Webb
The Giants are in a tough spot, currently sporting a 29-43 record. The Rockies are the only team in the majors below them in the standings. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the club hasn’t fully committed to selling but is moving in that direction. They have started “testing the waters” on potential deals and have “put out feelers” on some of their players. Rosenthal mentions infielder Luis Arraez and left-hander Robbie Ray as guys likely to be available, with third baseman Matt Chapman another possibility. One player not expected to be available is right-hander Logan Webb, as Rosenthal reports that the Giants have no plans to move him.
It has undoubtedly been a disappointing season for the Giants, who have been trying to push over the hump of contention for a while now. Late in 2024, they signed Chapman to a six-year, $151MM extension. Buster Posey was reportedly instrumental in orchestrating that deal even though he was merely a member of the club’s board of directors, not officially running the front office. The club then decided to fire president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and give the job to Posey.
Since taking the helm, Posey made a couple of other bold moves that involved big financial commitments. He signed Willy Adames ahead of the 2025 season, giving him a seven-year, $182MM deal. One year ago today, they acquired Rafael Devers after he had a falling out with the Red Sox. Devers was still owed more than half of last year’s $27.5MM salary plus an extra $238.5MM in the eight remaining years on the deal.
Coming into 2026, they didn’t spend anywhere near that level, but did give eight-figure deals to Adrian Houser, Harrison Bader, Tyler Mahle and Arraez. They also made a notable expenditure in the dugout by bringing in Tony Vitello from the college ranks. They fired Bob Melvin, eating his $4MM salary. Then they had to pay a $3MM buyout to the University of Tennessee, on top of paying Vitello a $3.5MM annual salary on a three-year deal. Effectively, that means the Giants are paying $10.5MM on the manager position this year.
Despite all those investments, the Giants haven’t been able to gain much momentum. They hovered around .500 for most of the Zaidi era and finished 81-81 under Posey last year. As mentioned, this year is out to an even worse start. They are already nine games back of a playoff spot and 12 games under .500. With seven weeks to go until the deadline, it will be hard for them to avoid selling, so it makes sense that they would start canvassing other clubs.
Arraez and Ray would be the most clear-cut trade candidates, as both are impending free agents. Arraez should have more value since he is having a better season and getting paid less. The Giants effectively bought low on him. He won three straight batting titles from 2022 to 2024, with his batting average finishing between .314 and .354 in all three of those campaigns. That dipped to .292 last year as he battled a thumb injury. With that lesser offense and some questions about his defensive home, the Giants were able to sign him for a relatively modest $12MM one-year deal.
Arraez is back to his old self at the plate, hitting .319. He doesn’t take many walks or have much power but he’s the best in the game at putting the bat on the ball and finding some grass. Perhaps more remarkably, the Giants have put him at second base and seen him flourish. In previous years, his work at the keystone had been poor enough that he essentially became a full-time first baseman. But this year, he has been credited with nine Outs Above Average, second only to JJ Wetherholt at the position. Defensive Runs Saved has graded him as league average but even that is an improvement for him.
By the time the deadline rolls around, that deal will have about $4MM left to be paid out. That’s still a notable amount of money for a club to take on midseason. If the Giants are willing to absorb some of that, they could improve the prospect package they receive in return. Contenders such as the Rays, Dodgers, Rangers, Reds, Orioles and others have some current questions at second base and could be interested. Some clubs might also just want the bat and could acquire Arraez to play first base or serve as a designated hitter.
Ray is a former Cy Young winner but he’s a different pitcher now. Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his 2023 and 2024 seasons. He was back on the mound last year put up a solid 3.65 earned run average. This year, his age-34 season, he has a 4.42 ERA. That might not even accurately depict how rough his campaign has been. His 21% strikeout rate is below average and miles away from his peak. His 11.5% walk rate is more than two ticks above average. He’s had some help from a fortunate .263 batting average on balls in play and 75.2% strand rate. His 5.26 FIP and 4.82 SIERA suggest he’s actually a bit lucky to have a mid-4.00 ERA.
Considering that performance, his age and his $25MM salary, he doesn’t have much value at the moment. Given his pedigree and the rate of injuries around the league, perhaps some club would take a shot, but the Giants would have to likely eat most of the money for a negligible return. About $8MM will be left to be paid out when the deadline rolls around.
While those would be pretty obvious guys to sell, Webb would be a tougher pill to swallow. He is 29 years old and one of the better pitchers in the league. He would certainly have plenty of interest around the league if the club made him available. However, he is the face of the franchise. He’s a bit of a local boy, as he grew up in Rocklin, California, a few hours outside San Francisco. He was drafted and developed by the club.
He is also signed through 2028, so making him available would be a signal of a much deeper rebuild project. Presumably, with all of their investments, the Giants are hoping to add some young talent at this year’s deadline and then try for contention again in 2027.
If that is the plan, they wouldn’t have a ton of other exciting things to sell. Mahle and JT Brubaker are also impending free agents. Mahle has a 6.04 ERA on the year and is currently on the IL with a hamstring strain. Brubaker is a 32-year-old long reliever with underwhelming numbers. Guys like Houser, Bader, Sam Hentges and Eric Haase are controlled through 2027. Houser and Bader have big contracts and bad numbers this year. Hentges has a 1.59 ERA but in a tiny sample of 11 1/3 innings while walking 23.6% of batters faced. Haase is having an okay year but is a journeyman backup catcher.
Rosenthal suggests the Giants could look to move Chapman in order to clear some payroll and open third base for Casey Schmitt. The Giants have moved Schmitt to left field in order to keep his bat in the lineup but he’s a natural infielder. He could perhaps play second after Arraez is traded but his metrics at the hot corner are better than at the keystone.
Trading Chapman wouldn’t be easy, however. He is 33 years old. He has a full no-trade clause. He is owed $25MM annually through 2030, which means there will be roughly $108MM left to be paid out when the deadline rolls around.
Perhaps the Giants feel that now is a good time to try regardless. Not too long ago, it looked like the aging curve was starting to swallow Chapman. At the end of May, he had a .232/.310/.323 line and 82 wRC+. He has since caught fire and now has a .261/.348/.414 line on the year, which roughly aligns with his career numbers.
Though his deal doesn’t look quite so onerous after that recent hot streak, the Giants perhaps feel it would only get harder to move in the future. Trading Devers or Adames is even less likely because their numbers are worse this year, so Chapman is theoretically their best chance to clear up some long-term spending capacity. Even if they are interested in swapping out Chapman, actually pulling it off would be quite a challenge for the aforementioned reasons.
Time will tell how it all plays out but it certainly seems like it’s trending towards a notably grim summer for the Giants. FanGraphs puts their Playoff Odds at just 2.7% while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospects are even more bearish at 0.6%.
Photos courtesy of Robert Edwards, Kelley L Cox, Stan Szeto, Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
The Giants’ Long-Term Contracts Are Becoming A Big Problem
The Giants are in a real tough spot right now. They are 16-24 on the season, one of the worst records in baseball. An individual season being disappointing is something that happens to most teams but the current struggles are casting shadows over the long-term outlook since a lot of the disappointment is coming from the long-term core.
Aside from a stunning 107-win season in 2021, the Giants have been a .500 club or worse for a decade now. They have tried to get more aggressive recently, adding a number of large contracts to their books. Their three longest remaining commitments are to Rafael Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. All three are performing poorly, which could limit the club’s flexibility going forward. One major underwater contract is usually bad news for a team but three is obviously a much greater concern.
Devers is easily having the worst season of his career so far. He has a .232/.276/.364 batting line and 79 wRC+, indicating he’s been 21% worse than the league average hitter. That’s miles south of his career line, which is .274/.347/.502 and translates to a 125 wRC+. His 30.1% strikeout rate is more than three ticks worse than his previous career high. His 6.1% walk rate would be his lowest in a full season. The struggles can’t really be blamed on poor luck. Devers has a .310 batting average on balls in play. That’s a bit south of his .315 career rate but barely, and still above the .289 league average.
The Giants probably have to be hoping Devers is hurt. If not, the trends are gloomy. Though he was still a productive hitter as recently as last year, there have been some worrying things under the hood for a while. His bat speed was in the 68th percentile of qualified hitters in 2023 but that dropped to 61st in 2024 and 42nd last year. He’s down to 38th so far in 2026.
At the same time, he’s been getting attacked more and taking advantage less. 45% of the pitches Devers saw in 2023 were in the strike zone. That ticked up to 47.2% in 2024, 48.6% last year and 50.6% this year. He’s also been seeing more fastballs and less offspeed stuff. In 2023, he was getting 59.8% fastballs and 16.3% offspeed. That ratio has shifted to be 64.9% fastballs and 12.6% offspeed this year. He made contact on 76.2% of pitches in the zone in 2023, but that dropped to 71.9%, 71.4% and 69.4% in subsequent seasons.
Devers’ exit velocity and hard-hit rate stayed strong for most of that stretch but have nosedived this year. He is averaging 90.3 miles per hour off the bat this year, more than three points below last year’s 93.5 mph. His 46.2% hard hit rate is well below last year’s 56.1% clip. Last year, he still damaged four-seam fastballs. Statcast gave him a run value of 13 as he hit .249 with a .512 slug. This year, he’s at a -2 run value with a .192 batting average and .462 slug.
In short, teams don’t seem too scared of Devers and he’s not making them pay for that. Perhaps there is some ailment that explains this. Devers has dealt with back, shoulder and hamstring issues in his career. A disk injury in his lower back was hampering him last year, though he didn’t go on the injured list for it.
If that’s not what’s going on here and Devers is just suddenly hitting a decline phase at age 29, that’s extremely worrisome for the Giants. He’s not a burner on the basepaths and doesn’t provide defensive value. He was never a good third baseman and doesn’t seem likely to play there again (at least not with any kind of regularity). He’s still getting accustomed to first base and hasn’t received good grades there so far. He needs to hit to be useful to the Giants.
Adames is having an even worse season at the plate. He has a .209/.242/.342 line and 64 wRC+. His 3.6% walk rate is awful and about half of his previous career low, which was 7.9% in 2022. He has always had a somewhat high strikeout rate but this year’s 29.7% clip would easily be his worst in a full season. His hard hit rate, exit velocity and barrel rate are all down relative to last year.
The issue for Adames is perhaps one of aggression. He’s actually getting pitched in the zone less while making more contact on the whole. However, he is only swinging at the first pitch 26.1% of the time, compared to a 30.9% career rate. He is also only swinging at 65.1% of pitches in the zone, compared to a 70.2% career clip.
However you chop it up, it’s not good, but Adames at least covers a premium position at shortstop. Outs Above Average thinks he’s a bit worse defensively this year but Defensive Runs Saved has him trending up. Though Adames and Devers are both struggling to hit, Adames should be less of a concern due to his ability to cover shortstop, at least for now.
Chapman’s offense isn’t quite as dire as the other two but it’s still not good. His 9% walk rate and 22.9% strikeout rate are both near league average, but he has just one home run, a .235/.313/.322 line and an 86 wRC+. His 31.5% hard-hit rate is way down from last year’s 47.6% clip. Chapman’s glovework is still getting strong reviews, however, so he hasn’t been totally useless.
The club’s results aren’t entirely due to these three, as the pitching has also been lackluster. However, in a sense, that is connected to these three big contracts. The Giants have seemingly been loath to spend on pitching lately, presumably because so much of their payroll is already tied up. In the past two offseasons, their two-year, $22MM deal with Adrian Houser has been their largest pitching investment.
Making any kind of pivot is going to be very difficult, if not impossible. Chapman and Adames both have full no-trade protection. Even putting that aside, it’s not as though they have a ton of value. Adames will make $28MM annually from 2027 to 2031, leaving $140MM still to be paid out after the current season. Given his current performance, no club will be eager to take that on. Chapman is making $25MM annually through 2030, leaving $100MM on the deal after this season. He’s still picking it at third but he just turned 33, so teams know decline is coming eventually.
Devers does not have no-trade protection in his deal, which is why the Giants were able to get him from the Red Sox. But the deal runs through 2033 and isn’t cheap. Nominally, he’s getting paid about $30MM a year for the remainder, though $7.5MM is deferred annually and to be paid out through 2043. Even if some team were willing to acquire him, the optics for the Giants would be rough. Since his stock is down, they would receive something less than what they just gave up to get Devers last year, when they sent out Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs III, Jose Bello and Jordan Hicks. At this point, they would likely have to eat a substantial portion of the deal just to get anything of note.
It’s a rough spot for president of baseball operations Buster Posey, whose fingerprints are on all three deals, even though just one of them was technically signed under his watch. The Giants originally signed Chapman to a three-year deal with opt-outs heading into the 2024 season. At that time, Posey was on the club’s ownership board and Farhan Zaidi was still president of baseball operations. In September of 2024, the Giants signed Chapman to a six-year, $151MM extension. Reporting at the time indicating that Posey was instrumental in negotiating that deal with Chapman. Posey replaced Zaidi not long after. Adames was signed a few months later. The Giants traded for Devers a few months after that.
There aren’t easy answers. Presumably, the Giants don’t want to start a big rebuild when they have already been scuffling for most of the past decade. Even if they wanted to, they are fairly committed to the present. In addition to the three really big deals, they are paying Jung Hoo Lee a good amount of money through 2029 and Logan Webb through 2028. Houser and Harrison Bader are going to make hefty salaries through next year. They spent a bunch of money to hire Tony Vitello as their manager this year. In addition to his $3.5MM salary, they paid the University of Tennessee $3MM to buy out his contract and are still paying $4MM to Bob Melvin this year after picking up his contract option and then firing him.
Internal help may not be likely. The farm isn’t considered a disaster but is generally ranked in the middle of the 30 teams in the league. Most of their top prospects are in the lower levels. Addressing the weak spots of the roster via free agency is perhaps not plausible either, based on the way the club has seemingly pumped the brakes since adding Chapman, Adames and Devers to the books.
It seems Posey may be stuck trying to work around these three. He made one such move this weekend, flipping Patrick Bailey to the Guardians for a pitching prospect and a draft pick. Bailey is the best defensive catcher in the game but his offense has been poor and worsened this year. His limp bat may have been more tolerable if the rest of the lineup was producing but that was not the case.
That return won’t help the club in the near term. Rather, they have to hope that players like Jesús Rodríguez and Daniel Susac form adequate replacements for Bailey, with less value on defense but hopefully far more on offense.
If the club can’t climb back in the race in the coming months, more future-focused moves will be forthcoming this summer. Rental players like Robbie Ray, Luis Arraez and Tyler Mahle will be available but without huge value. Mahle has a 5.18 ERA. Ray is pitching well but his $25MM salary is hefty. Arraez is also having a good season but is making $12MM. A bigger sell-off will be difficult. Houser and Bader are both having poor seasons. The longer deals will be ever harder to move.
When Posey first got his current job, he spoke of wanting to get the Giants back into the memory-making business. The implication seemed to be a pivot towards big-name players. He has since hitched his wagon to Chapman, Adames and Devers. Now that all three horses are stuck in the mud, he may not be able to do much more than hope they dig themselves out.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Matt Chapman Successfully Appeals Suspension
September 12: Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Chapman’s appeal was successful and he will no longer have to serve a suspension, though the fine stands.
September 3: MLB has issued a one-game suspension to Giants third baseman Matt Chapman for “pushing” Kyle Freeland during last night’s game. Chapman and Freeland were each handed undisclosed fines, as were Willy Adames and Rafael Devers. Chapman appealed the suspension and is in the lineup tonight at third base against Germán Márquez.
The discipline stems from last night’s bench-clearing incident at Coors Field. Devers hit a sky high home run off Freeland in the top of the first inning. The Colorado pitcher took exception to Devers taking his time admiring the shot. They got into a shouting match by the time Devers reached first base and the benches emptied.
Chapman was one of the first players out of the San Francisco dugout and appeared to shove Freeland when he got to the mound. Adames, who was on deck for the Devers homer, was also in the mix. He and Freeland each swiped at one another and exchanged words, though the situation remained relatively innocuous. The benches and bullpens emptied, but it never really escalated into a brawl. Chapman, Adames and Freeland were all thrown out of the game. Devers was not ejected and completed his home run trot a few minutes later while Antonio Senzatela was warming up to replace Freeland.
The suspension isn’t of huge significance, though the Giants have won nine of their last 10 games to pull back into the periphery of the Wild Card race. Unless the ban is reversed on appeal, San Francisco will need to play a man short for whatever game Chapman sits out. Christian Koss would likely draw in at second base, moving Casey Schmitt to the hot corner.
IL Activations: Chapman, Yates
Here’s a look at some of the more notable names to be activated from the injured list today…
- The Giants activated third baseman Matt Chapman from the injured list today after spending just a week on the shelf due to inflammation in his right hand. Versatile infielder Tyler Fitzgerald was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Chapman on the active roster. Chapman has appeared in just 96 games for San Francisco this year after missing time due to a sprained right hand back in June. He missed nearly a month due to that injury, and after being activated in early July he hit just .200/.290/.365 over 31 games before heading back to the IL due to his ailing hand. Chapman received a cortisone shot during this latest stint on the shelf, and both he and the Giants are surely hoping he’ll be able to hit more like his first half self (.243/.360/.452 in 65 games) going forward. As for Fitzgerald, he’s hit just .217/.278/.327 (73 wRC+) in 72 games this year thanks primarily to vanishing power relative to his 15 homers in 341 plate appearances last year.
- Elsewhere in the NL West, the Dodgers activated veteran relief arm Kirby Yates from the injured list today. He takes the roster spot of southpaw Blake Snell, who is headed to the paternity list. Yates was shelved on August 1 due to low back pain and hasn’t appeared in a game since July 26. He was placed on the shelf after a difficult month of July where he surrendered a 6.00 ERA and 5.95 FIP across eight appearances, but the Dodgers are surely hoping that his month-long layoff has helped him get healthy for the final weeks of the season. Yates was arguably the best reliever in baseball with the Rangers last year as he posted a 1.17 ERA with a 2.50 FIP and picked up 33 saves in 61 appearances. This year his ERA has ballooned to 4.31, but a 32.8% strikeout rate still offers some reason for optimism that he’ll be able to turn things around now that he’s healthy. Yates joins a Dodgers bullpen that is presently relying on Blake Treinen and Ben Casparius in the late innings from the right side.
Giants Place Matt Chapman On 10-Day Injured List
Prior to Friday’s 7-6 loss to the Rays, the Giants placed third baseman Matt Chapman on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 13. (The San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser was the first to report the IL placement.) With right-hander Ryan Walker also going on the paternity list, the Giants addressed the two open roster spots by calling up right-hander Keaton Winn from Triple-A and activating righty Landen Roupp from the 15-day IL to make the start.
Chapman is dealing with inflammation in his right hand, and has taken a cortisone shot in an effort to try and return in a minimal amount of time. Even then, as he told Slusser and other reporters Friday that his hand likely won’t be fully healed until the offseason. It all stems from the initial hand injury that sidelined Chapman for about four weeks in June and early July, when he suffered sprains and bone bruises on three fingers on his right hand following a painful dive back to third base.
Even after returning from that first IL stint, Chapman was still playing through discomfort, leaving him “trying to push through it, do what I can.” Things reached a breaking point within the last few days, when Chapman’s hand became sore enough that “I really felt like I couldn’t use my hand when I was swinging, and it just didn’t feel right.”
The numbers underline Chapman’s struggles. The third baseman hit .243/.360/.452 over his first 272 place appearances of the season, but then batted just .200/.290/.365 over the 131 PA in between his two IL placements.
Chapman’s slump has been just one factor in a team-wide offensive shortage over the last month, which has led to the Giants’ big slide down the standings. San Francisco is 7-21 over its last 28 games, which includes an ongoing six-game losing streak and a hard-to-believe stretch of 14 losses in the Giants’ last 15 home games. Even if Chapman does return in a minimal amount of time and is able to regain his form at the plate, it may already be too late for the Giants to make a late push at a wild card slot.
Casey Schmitt is the likeliest fill-in for Chapman at third base, though Schmitt had to leave Friday’s game after being hit by a pitch. In the postgame media session, Giants manager Bob Melvin told Slusser and company that x-rays were negative, though Schmitt may need to miss a few games to let his right forearm contusion heal up. This could put Christian Koss in line for some third base playing time.
Giants Activate Matt Chapman, DFA Sergio Alcantara
The Giants announced a series of roster moves this evening, headlined by the return of third baseman Matt Chapman from the injured list. Infielder Sergio Alcantara was designated for assignment to make room for Chapman on the active roster. Additionally, the Giants optioned right-hander Mason Black to Triple-A and recalled right-hander Tristan Beck.
Chapman, 32, has been sidelined for almost a month by a hand injury that left him with sprains in three fingers and bone bruises on each of those fingers. Prior to that injury the infielder was in the midst of a brilliant season at third base for the Giants with a .243/.360/.452 slash line across 65 games. The loss of Chapman’s bat from the lineup hurt for San Francisco, as they went on to lose 14 of the 23 games they played while he was injured. That’s left them buried in an NL West race that was quite close just a month ago while also putting them on the outside looking in when it comes to the NL Wild Card race. Fortunately, the return of Chapman to the lineup should be a huge boost to a Giants club that has not yet had the opportunity to bat him and Rafael Devers alongside each other in the same lineup.
Making room for Chapman on the roster is Alcantara, who made it into just one game with the Giants. He was selected to the roster just a couple of days ago to provide cover while Chapman, Casey Schmitt, and Christian Koss were all on the shelf while Tyler Fitzgerald battled a minor back issue. Though he went hitless during his lone game with the Giants, Alcantara’s value has never stemmed from his bat. He’s hitting just .206/.319/.252 even in the heightened offensive environment of Triple-A’s Pacific Coast League this year, and sports a career 70 wRC+ during his major league career. Despite that weak offensive production, the 28-year-old has gotten 193 games in the majors with the Tigers, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Padres, and Giants thanks to his slick work with the glove and any ability to cover needs anywhere on the infield. The Giants will have one week to either trade Alcantara or pass him through waivers, where he would have the choice to either accept an outright assignment or elect free agency if he goes unclaimed.
As for Black, he too made just one appearance in the majors with the Giants this year, throwing four innings of relief yesterday where he surrendered five runs (three earned) while striking out five in and walking none in a 11-2 loss to the Athletics. He’ll head back to Triple-A, where he has a 4.75 ERA in 15 appearances this year, as a depth option for the rotation or potential long man for the bullpen as needed. Returning to the bullpen in his place is Beck, who has generally impressed over the years with a 3.66 ERA and 4.16 FIP in 113 career MLB innings. His work this season has been less impressive, though it’s come in a sample of just 12 innings across six appearances.
Rafael Devers To Start Work At First Base With Giants
The Giants held a press conference today to introduce Rafael Devers and one key question about his future in San Francisco was answered. The Giants plan to have him serve as the designated hitter but also as a first baseman going forward. He’ll start taking grounders in preparation for the position change in the next few days. Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area was among those to relay the news.
“They’re the men in charge,” Devers said today, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “I’m here to play wherever they want me to play.”
It’s obviously a notable shift from where things stood with the Red Sox. Devers had been almost exclusively a third baseman coming into this year, though he has been considered a poor defender. Over the winter, the Sox were connected in rumors to third basemen like Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman. Members of the Red Sox such as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Álex Cora downplayed the possibility of Devers being moved off the hot corner.
The Sox eventually signed Bregman, but even in the initial wake of that deal, the club didn’t firmly declare that Devers was done as a third baseman. “He’s a Gold Glove third baseman,” Cora said of Bregman in February. “He hasn’t played second base in the big leagues. I do believe he can be a Gold Glove second baseman, too.”
A few days later, Devers spoke to the media and was adamant about not moving. “It’s my decision,” he said at the time. “My position is third base. Whatever it is they want to do is what they want to do. But my position is third base.” He had apparently been promised he could be a long-term third baseman when signing his ten-year extension in 2023, though Cora dismissed that promise. “That was under Chaim,” Cora said, referring to previous CBO Chaim Bloom. The Sox fired Bloom late in 2023 and later hired Breslow to replace him.
As spring training went on, it became clear that the Sox intended to have Bregman at third, with Devers moved to a DH role. While Devers was clearly frustrated and reportedly considered asking for a trade, he eventually relented and accepted his fate. Whatever emotions he was feeling were not impacting his performance, as Devers has hit .272/.401/.504 for a 148 wRC+ this year.
The situation with the Red Sox grew even more complicated in early May when first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending knee injury. Devers taking up that spot seemed like a logical next step, as many subpar third basemen have successfully moved across the diamond over the years. Doing so also would have helped the Sox with positional logjams elsewhere. Outfield prospect Roman Anthony has been blocked in Triple-A for most of the season but an open DH spot would have helped the club find more playing time for him and others.
The Sox did indeed ask Devers to consider a move to first base, but Devers refused and also seemed offended that he was even asked. “They talked to me and basically told me to put away my glove, that I wasn’t going to play any other position but DH,” Devers said of the conversation during spring training. “So right now, I just feel like it’s not an appropriate decision by them to ask me to play another position.” He went on to seemingly take a shot at the club’s brass in the process: “Now I think they should do their job essentially and hit the market and look for another player (to play first base). I’m not sure why they want me to be in between the way they have me now.”
The Sox went on to try other options at first, including utility players like Romy González and Abraham Toro. Rookie Kristian Campbell also started some pre-game work at first, though he has yet to appear there in actual game action.
All of this drama seemed to lead to this weekend’s shocking trade which sent Devers to the Giants. Back on May 10th, it was reported that Breslow, owner John Henry and CEO Sam Kennedy all flew to Kansas City to meet with Devers and discuss the situation as the Sox played the Royals. In the wake of the trade, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said that he had been discussing the deal with the Sox for three to four weeks. In other words, not long after that Kansas City meeting.
Breslow also spoke to the media yesterday and said that “It’s the willingness to step up and sacrifice at times of need and essentially do whatever is necessary to help the team win,” speaking broadly about successful teams he’d been a part of during his playing days. “I think that’s the identity, this relentless pursuit of winning, that we’re looking for.”
Looking at how Devers fit onto the roster in San Francisco raised similar questions to his time in Boston. Matt Chapman is currently on the injured list but is one of the best defensive third basemen in the league and is under contract through 2030. The club’s top prospect is Bryce Eldridge, a first baseman who recently got promoted from Double-A to Triple-A.
Given the standoff in Boston, it was fair to wonder where Devers fit but now there’s an answer. Eldridge will continue playing first base in the minors, per Pavlovic, though Devers will learn the position in the meantime. If Eldridge succeeds as a major leaguer, the two could share the roster for a long time. Devers’ contract goes for eight more years after the current season. Eldridge will be under club control until he accrues six season of service time.
Eldridge might still be the long-term first baseman and Devers the long-term DH, though at least having Devers as a viable player at that position is obviously valuable. It will provide more flexibility if Eldridge ever needs a stint on the injured list during his career, or perhaps doesn’t pan out. As heralded as he is, even the top prospects don’t always succeed when promoted to the majors.
The shift in tone from Devers will naturally lead to questions about why. It’s possible that he bore a grudge against the Sox about the broken promise or perhaps didn’t like the way they went about communicating their plans to him. Perhaps he just wants to start this new opportunity on the right foot, as opposed to kicking it off with another dispute.
That’s all speculative, though that’s all that can really be done unless further reporting sheds more light on the subject or Devers decides to open up about it. “I’m moving forward from the situation in Boston and looking forward to being a San Francisco Giant,” Devers said today, per Cotillo.
In the short term, Devers will presumably need some time to feel comfortable at first, having never played there in his career. The Giants recently moved on from first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. and have been using Dominic Smith there, with Wilmer Flores in the DH spot. Devers is DHing tonight with Smith at first and Flores on the bench, though Flores has first base experience and could factor in there as well. Though Chapman is currently on the IL, the club doesn’t plan to use Devers at third, per Justice delos Santos of Mercury News.
Flores and Smith are both impending free agents. If Eldridge starts thriving in Triple-A, perhaps he gets called up later in the year, with Flores and/or Smith becoming trade candidates prior to the deadline. In the long run, it seems the Giants hope for a Devers/Eldridge duo in the first base/DH mix, though that will naturally depend upon Devers taking to the new position and Eldridge developing.
Meanwhile, Boston fans will be left with the hypotheticals. If playing first base wasn’t really the problem, then was there a way this could have all played out differently? What if the club had asked Devers to play first base back in November, prior to signing Bregman, and given him a full offseason/spring to prepare? What if they held him through this year and then broached the subject again ahead of the 2026 season? Those questions are all moot now as the club once again grapples with a star player leaving Boston for California.
Photos courtesy of Dale Zanine, Gregory Fisher, Jerome Miron, Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images