SAN FRANCISCO — As the ink dried on Matt Chapman’s six-year, $151 million extension, Scott Boras walked onto the dirt at Oracle Park and watched as Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Josh Bell finished his pregame routine. Bell, like many of the game’s best players, is represented by the most powerful agent in professional sports, one who took advantage of his day in San Francisco to catch up with clients on both sides.
The Giants have a growing list of them, ranging from injured center fielder Jung Hoo Lee to rookie right-hander Hayden Birdsong. But at the top of the list right now is left-hander Blake Snell, who coincidentally was on the mound Thursday as Chapman returned to the lineup a much richer man.
Chapman and Snell both signed late, and both negotiated contracts that would allow them to opt out this offseason and again test the market. Chapman decided against it, but Snell seems a near-lock to chase a massive contract this offseason instead of agreeing to his own extension. During an interview on Thursday with NBC Sports Bay Area, Boras wasn’t tipping his hand one way or the other.
“Blake has shown his dominance repeatedly here now, not only this season but last,” Boras said. “He pitches great in this ballpark and obviously our position with Blake is that I work at the player’s direction and I’m sure when the season is done, any organization that really wants to be considered championship caliber is going to have an interest in Blake Snell, no doubt.”
In his previous start, Snell became the first starting pitcher to throw at least 30 consecutive scoreless innings at Oracle Park. Afterward, he was asked about his future and said he hasn’t given it much thought.
“Right now I’m here, we need to win,” he said. “I love this team and that’s all I’m focused on.”
The Giants have since fallen all the way out of the postseason race, meaning the next three weeks will largely be about looking ahead. It seems a good sign for Farhan Zaidi and Bob Melvin that ownership gave the green light to offer the second-biggest deal in franchise history to Chapman in early September, but if Zaidi is the one planning for 2025, he will have a much more difficult time outrunning the market on Snell.
The left-hander found a disappointing collection of suitors last offseason, but high-end pitching is always in demand and he has been the best in baseball in the second half. There are likely other big market teams that are kicking themselves over not signing Snell in March or trading for him in July, and Boras figures to give them another shot this winter.
Boras will once again be in control of the market, including the very top of it. The best player available this winter will be Juan Soto, a generational star who has had a terrific walk year with the New York Yankees. While the Yankees and New York Mets are considered heavy favorites, the industry expects the Giants to take yet another shot at landing that superstar hitter, and Soto is the rare option who shouldn’t be scared away by Oracle Park.
The 25-year-old has seven homers and a 1.050 OPS in 22 career games in San Francisco. He had a two-homer game at Oracle earlier this season, including a game-winner off Camilo Doval.
“You really want to look at things that you know make players comfortable, and performing well really makes players happy where they’re at,” Boras said of Soto. “Those factors certainly are something I know that we look at and I’m sure when they get the information that we provide them, the players understand what that means to them too.”
Soto’s contract should challenge records, and the final number is likely to start with a five. The negotiating was a lot easier in Chapman’s case and began in earnest in mid-August. When Chapman signed this spring, he told Zaidi that his goal was to have a great year so they could start talking about an extension in August. He did his part, and a deal came together in about three weeks. Boras said Chapman directed him to “be motivated to get this deal done.”
It’s one that locks him into San Francisco through 2030. Boras clients often test the market, but he pointed out Thursday that he follows a player’s lead. It’ll take a few months to figure out if the Giants can find common ground with Boras’ other top clients, but in Chapman, there was a fit all the way around, including in the clubhouse, where Chapman has taken on a leadership role.
“I’m glad in the game that these kinds of things are rewarded and that they’re recognized, because they’re not on paper,” Boras said. “They’re not in the categorizations of the metrics that we often go by and I’m really pleased for Matt that you can see the respect of his teammates. When I came here this morning, players I don’t know and don’t represent came up and were acknowledging how happy they were to have Matt on this team and to be a part of this organization.
“For me, to see the respect that he has earned and to see the relationship that him and Bob have and the comfort that he has playing here, you always want to have players play in places where they play well, and I think that worked out great for everybody.”
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