TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays have extended a qualifying offer to third baseman Matt Chapman for next season.
Chapman will have until Nov. 14 to accept the offer. If he declines and signs with another team, the Blue Jays will receive a 2024 draft pick in compensation from his new club.
Chapman signed a two-year, US$25-million contract with Toronto before the 2022 season after spending his first five Major League Baseball seasons in Oakland.
He hit .234 with 44 home runs and 130 runs batted in over two seasons with the Jays and was named a Gold Glove Award winner this season.
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Also Monday, the Blue Jays exercised their two-year conditional club option on right-hander Chad Green for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, acquired left-handed pitcher Brendon Little from the Chicago Cubs for cash considerations and selected right-hander Mitch White to the 40-man roster.
Green missed the first five months of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He injured his pitching elbow in May 2022 with the New York Yankees.
The 32-year-old Green was 3-0 with a 5.25 earned-run average over 12 appearances with Toronto. He had 16 strikeouts and walked four batters over 12 innings pitched.
He threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the Blue Jays’ loss to Minnesota in Toronto’s post-season opener. The Twins went on to sweep the best-of-three American League wild-card series.
Green will earn US$10.5 million annually for the next two years.
Since making his debut in 2016, he has a 36-22 record and 3.23 ERA over 284 career regular-season appearances.
Little, 27, went 3-3 with a 4.05 ERA in 50 appearances with Triple-A Iowa last season.
He made his major-league debut with the Cubs in a game in Toronto on Aug. 30, 2022.
White had an 0-1 record with a 7.11 ERA in 10 appearances with the Blue Jays last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2023.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
