A’s future with Olson, Chapman in doubt
Team unlikely to keep both sluggers past ’21
Matt Chapman and Matt Olson are bound by more than just a common first name. They are two of the best defensive players at their positions in baseball. Both are anchors in a solid Oakland A’s lineup — demonstrating impressive raw power while still looking for consistent breakthroughs at the plate.
Both were tendered contracts in their first year of arbitration — a no- brainer for the A’s as they begin to piece back together a team that can nudge open the window of contention a bit wider after a strange, disappointing 2020 season that ended in the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros.
Olson signed a one-year deal reportedly worth $5 million.
But will their first year of arbitration be the last that the A’s can afford to keep both Matts into their fifth and sixth arbitration years?
A few factors put their immediate futures in Oakland in doubt. First, due to the coronavirus pandemic slowing local government operations to a crawl, the proposed ballpark at Howard Terminal certainly won’t be unveiled in 2023, as team president Dave Kaval projected pre-pandemic. Billy Beane and general manager David Forst have been up front about the ballpark’s importance, saying it would take shovels in the ground for them to consider signing players to more lucrative extensions instead of relying on player development to fuel spurts of success.
In other words, hope of extending either Chapman, Olson or even now-free agent Marcus Semien disappeared without any definite ballpark timeline. A re
minder that the A’s haven’t signed a homegrown player to a major contract extension since Eric Chavez’s six-year, $66 million deal in 2004. Designated hitter Khris Davis earned a twoyear $33.5 million extension for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
The A’s locked in Olson and Chapman’s 2021 services for a fair price — even in this pandemic-impacted free agent market, non-tendering the pair to re-sign a more team-friendly deal would be out of the question — but arbitration will bump their asking price significantly in their second and third years of arbitration in 2022 and 2023.
This is where Oakland’s dark past comes knocking. With no extra revenue streams flowing, will the A’s find it necessary to flip Chapman or Olson for pieces? A’s fans are numb to losing favorites on successful teams in the name of pre- emptive cost cuts. Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays in 2014, or Yoenis Céspedes to Boston at the trade deadline that year. Mark Mulder to St. Louis in 2004. Tim Hudson to Atlanta in 2004.
A nother deva stating trade would fit that pattern.
Chapman’s been somewhat publicly dismayed with the A’s, openly frustrated with his salary and, perhaps, stagnation in extension talks. His agent, Scott Boras, isn’t an early extension kind of guy — known best as a free agency shark.
Enough about the uncertain future. Chapman and Olson will return for a 2021 season — however that may look as the pandemic rages on. Chapman, 27, is coming off season- ending hip surgery, which might make contract negotiations a little tense.
But, with nine free agents up for grabs off their 2020 roster, the A’s are making significant strides toward keeping the majority of their core. They tendered all 10 arbitration eligible players. Olson, Tony Kemp, Chad Pinder and Burch Smith, so far, have agreed to terms on one-year deals.
Along with Chapman, outfielder Mark Canha, RHP Chris Bassitt, LHP Sean Manaea, RHP Frankie Montas and reliever Lou Trivino were tendered contracts.