MLB: Oakland Athletics at Toronto Blue Jays ? Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports

It looks like the Blue Jays have traded for Matt Chapman

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation | By Cam Lewis | Last updated 3/16/22

It’s taken a little while, but here’s the big move for a position player that we’ve been hearing about.

Late last night, Carlos Baerga reported on Instagram that the Blue Jays were trading for Matt Chapman of the Oakland Athletics. Given the fact Baerga also said that Toronto would be signing Freddie Freeman in free agency, it was difficult to tell how legitimate this report was.

But then on Wednesday morning, Jon Morosi reported that the Blue Jays and the A’s were finalizing a Chapman deal. We don’t yet know the return, but Morosi said that the Blue Jays are “not giving up players from their projected Opening Day roster.”

The #BlueJays are finalizing a trade for 2-time Platinum Glove-winning 3B Matt Chapman, source confirms. Carlos Baerga was the first to report. @MLBNetwork @FAN590 @Sportsnet

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 16, 2022

Chapman is an interesting addition for the Blue Jays. He fills the hole the team has at third base, as he’s a plus defender who has won three gold gloves at the hot corner, but he’s also another right-handed bat in an already right-heavy lineup.

He’s also coming off a somewhat rough season at the plate, as his .210/.314/.403 slash line produced a .716 OPS, the worst of his big league career. Despite the ho-hum season offensively, Chapman was still worth 3.5 WAR last season (per FanGraphs) largely because of his excellent defence and ability to hit the ball out of the park.

He might not be Freeman or Jose Ramirez, but the last time the Blue Jays traded for an Oakland third baseman coming off a down year, things turned out pretty well!

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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