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With all the talk about MLB players supposedly not wanting to play in San Francisco, the Giants have certainly signed their fair share of free agents with spring training underway.
The last of those new additions is third baseman Matt Chapman, who signed a contract with the Giants that was announced as a one-year, $18 million deal, although the 30-year-old could opt to play in San Francisco for the next four . seasons.
During his introductory news conference Monday in Scottsdale, Arizona, Chapman told reporters he didn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to play in San Francisco.
“I chose to come here,” Chapman said. “I think everyone is different, everyone has different things that matter to them, but I’m from California. I played in the Bay Area. I feel comfortable here. And people say what they say, but I think in the end The Every day you look at the franchise, they want to win. They’ve won before. They know how to do it.
“They have great players, great coaches. So, I don’t see why people wouldn’t want to come here, and I know a lot of people reached out and said they wanted to come play here and told me that. So I think if that’s a narrative , its going to change”.
Opinions about the negative stereotype surrounding the city of San Francisco (fair or not) increased again in December when former Giants catcher Buster Posey declared that perception could be impacting the team’s efforts in free agency during an interview with Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic.
Chapman, who played for the Oakland Athletics for the first five seasons of his seven-year MLB career, said he hopes to help attract players to play for the Bay Giants.
“I don’t think anything necessarily has to change,” Chapman said. “I think… like I said, I guess it depends on the person. But I know the guys would want to play with some of the guys here, and the guys want to play with me, guys that told me they were coming.” and play with me where I am. So obviously we would love to be here long term.
“That’s something I can see for myself, and I would definitely bring in players any way I could and make this team as competitive as possible.”
After signing Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, Jorge Soler and others, the Giants ended up finding several talented free agents who were more than happy to play in San Francisco. Whether or not they’ll add more remains to be seen, however, but perhaps Chapman is already contributing to his new team behind the scenes.
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