Blue Jays and newly acquired third baseman Matt Chapman avoided arbitration by signing a two-year, $25 million contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. The deal will buy out Chapman’s last two referee seasons, but will not expand Toronto’s club control of the two-time platinum glover. Chapman, a client of Boras Corporation, will receive a $1 million signing bonus and a $12 million consecutive salary on the deal. tweets John Heyman of MLB Network.
MLBTR member Matt Schwartz predicted Chapman would make $9.5 million next season, and he should have earned another promotion in 2023 before becoming a free agent in the 2023-24 offseason. Given this $9.5 million forecast, Chapman’s $25 million guarantee effectively sets a price of $14.5 million for this third arbitration salary, which seems well within the range of plausible results.
The new contract doesn’t change much of Chapman’s prospects, although it does give him some financial security in the event of a serious injury or a further downturn in his career. In the meantime, the Jays are getting some salary assurance not only this season but also in 2023, and they don’t have to spend time or resources arbitrating with Chapman next winter.
Acquired last week in a trade that sent prospects Gunnar Hoglund, Kevin Smith, Zack Logue and Kirby Sneed to Oakland, Chapman is heading to Toronto in search of a return to his 2018-19 MVP-caliber uniform at the plate. A hip injury in 2020 cut short Chapman’s season and ultimately required surgery. He returned to play a mostly full roster of 151 games in 2021, but while Chapman hit 27 home runs and played his usual premium defense in the hot corner, his overall performance at the plate dropped as his strikeout percentage rose. It’s entirely possible that the 2019 All-Star just wasn’t 100% last season, and now he’s intent on proving that he is without spending much time ruminating about his contract status.
According to Jason Martinez of Roster Resource, Chapman’s new $12 million salary raises the Blue Jays’ projected payroll to about $170 million, and that gives them about $190 million in luxury tax liabilities. This would set a new franchise record in terms of actual wages, though the Jays are still about $40 million short of the new $230 million luxury tax threshold.