Matt Chapman trade: A’s asking price from Phillies revealed

Matt Chapman trade: A’s asking price from Phillies revealed.

The Oakland A’s asking price from the Philadelphia Phillies may be too steep in their desire to get Matt Chapman.

To get Matt Chapman, the  Oakland A’s want to take a deep dive into the Philadelphia Phillies pool of young talent.

The A’s appear to be seeking the services of Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, and/or Bryson Stott.

It’s easy to see why the Phillies would be hesitant to trade one of these pieces for Chapman.

The third baseman will be 29 this season. For his career, Chapman has hit .243/.330/.478 with a +120 wRC. In four seasons, he has hit 111 home runs. In 2021, Chapman had 27 homers and 72 RBI, he walked 80 times but had a career-high 202 strikeouts. Defensively, at third, he had a .987 fielding percentage.

While Chapman does appear to have some power and can hit average, that’s an incredibly high strikeout rate. It’s too high to believe Chapman is worth the Phillies giving up the potential from so much top-tier talent.

Painter was drafted by the Phillies in 2021 straight from high school. Fangraphs describes Painter as a classic high-ceiling, high-risk teenager. “Painter is a prototypical prep arm with an XXL frame, premium arm strength, and nascent feel for a spin, and like many high schoolers of this ilk, he has a mid-rotation shot if everything comes together,” per Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin of Fangraphs. Painter is not expected to be major league ready until 2026.

Abel is the Phillies’ top prospect according to Fangraphs. The right-hander is expected to be a top of the rotation type arm. He was in Low-A ball at the end of 2021 after he was drafted out of high school in 2020, and maybe ready for the big leagues in 2024. It’s hard to imagine the Phillies letting this arm go for Chapman.

Of the candidates the A’s are asking for, Stott is the closest to major league ready. The shortstop is playing for the AAA squad after an impressive rise through the Phillies system in 2021 that carried into the Arizona Fall League. It’s anticipated Stott will take over the major league SS role from Didi Gregorius at some point in 2022 where he is slated to become a fixture for years to come.

It’s good for Philly fans to see that management is not eager to get rid of some amazing talent in exchange for a named option that appears too risky. Chapman would be a decent player to slip into the major league roster. But not at that price tag.