Time Is Ever More Unfavourable To The Oakland A’s Matt Chapman Trade

Perpetuating a rebuild with still no end in sight, the Oakland A’s traded then-28-year-old former All-Star third baseman Matt Chapman to the Toronto Blue Jays back in March 2022, their third trade in a week. The other two saw them move Chris Bassitt to the New York Mets, and fellow star infielder Matt Olson to the Atlanta Braves; in all three cases, the pricier established veteran was being moved for the cheaper, more numerous yet unproven young talent.

The concept of trading old for young is a tale as old as sport, and is neither new nor wrong. However, the degree to which the A’s have run with it over the last two seasons – and particularly over the course of that one week – has been extreme. And in all candour, the Matt Chapman trade was not so much one of “old for young” as it was one of “expensive for cheap”.