Another coveted free-agent pitcher is off the board.
ESPN reported Monday that the Toronto Blue Jays and right-hander Chris Bassitt have reached a deal on a three-year, $63 million contract, pending a physical.
Although there had been a recent report that the San Francisco Giants were pursuing Bassitt, Toronto seemed to be the favorite from the start of free agency. It’s surprising there wasn’t more offseason buzz about the 33-year-old pitcher, but that’s probably to be expected in a free agent class that included aces Jacob deGrom and Justin Verlander.
Bassitt, an All-Star in 2021, went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.145 WHIP for the New York Mets last season. He struggled in a couple of games late, however, one at the end of the regular season, the other in the playoffs, that left him departing on a bad note.
Now he joins a talented Blue Jays team that won 92 games last season before being swept by the Seattle Mariners in the AL Wild Card Series. He slots nicely into a rotation that features Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman, who both earned Cy Young Award votes last season.
Baseball fans disagreed on whether the Blue Jays made a good move.
“Chris Bassitt may not be electric, but he’s got a better park-adjusted ERA than Gerrit Cole and a better park-adjusted FIP than Joe Musgrove since the start of 2020,” tweeted Jonah Birenbaum. “A perfectly cromulent back-end starter for a first-division team.”
“Bassitt was the best right-handed starter left on the market, very good get for Blue Jays who now have a top four as good as anybody’s in the league,” commented Mike Wilner.
A Mets fan who runs the popular Knicks Memes Twitter account noted, “I am NOT saying Bassitt didn’t pitch well for us. He was very solid. But pitching badly in a huge start, then saying that NYers overreact to everything, THEN pitching badly in an elimination game? That doesn’t fly, I’m sorry.”
“Bassitt rocks. Low walks, high groundballs, very consistent year-to-year,” he tweeted Blake Murphy.
“Good for Toronto and good for Chris. Really solid pitcher who can’t pitch under the bright lights,” tweeted one fan.
[ESPN]