The Mets and right-hander Chris Bassitt have avoided an arbitration hearing by agreeing to a one-year, $8.65MM contract for the 2022 season, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (Twitter link). There is also a mutual option attached to the deal, as if both sides trigger the option, Bassitt will receive $19MM in 2023 (or a $150K buyout if either side declines).
The two sides has been scheduled for an arbitration hearing on May 23. Bassitt was looking for a $9MM salary and the Mets countered with an $8.3MM offer, so the $8.65MM agreement is directly between the two submitted figures, though Bassitt will get a bit closer to his desired salary in the form of the $150K buyout.
As usual with mutual options, it is pretty unlikely that both parties will agree to exercise the 2023 agreement. Bassitt will be a free agent for the first time this winter, and will be lined up for a lucrative multi-year agreement if he keeps pitching as well as he has to date over his first eight starts. Since Bassitt will be 34 on Opening Day, he’ll surely like the opportunity to score the first (and maybe last) big multi-year payday of his career, rather than take just the one year and $19MM from the Mets.
This doesn’t mean that Bassitt isn’t necessarily a long-term fit in Queens, though he’ll be one of several potential free agent pitching decisions facing the Mets this winter. Taijuan Walker (player option), Jacob deGrom (opt-out clause), and Carlos Carrasco (club option) could also be joining Bassitt on the open market, so New York’s rotation could look quite different in 2023. Of course, the Mets have the financial resources to re-sign any of these players, depending on which arms they want to specifically target.
The $8.65MM salary is a nice bump from Bassitt’s $4.9MM salary with the A’s in 2021, and he also earned $2.25MM in his first arb-eligible year in 2020 (in both those previous seasons, Bassitt reached a deal with Oakland to avoid hearings). It’s a pretty nice outcome for a pitcher who didn’t debut in the majors until age 25, missed all over 2017 due to Tommy John surgery, and didn’t really establish himself as a rotation regular until 2019.
Since the start of that 2019 campaign, Bassitt has a 3.20 ERA over 413 innings, and he has earned top-ten Cy Young Award finishes in each of the previous two seasons. With the Athletics looking to cut payroll this past offseason, Bassitt was seen as a prime trade target heading into his final year of team control, and the A’s indeed moved Bassitt as part of a three-player deal with the Mets soon after the lockout ended.
$8.65 million isn’t a bad price to pay for one of the most underrated starting pitchers in baseball.
As a Braves fan I was concerned when the Mets grabbed this guy. Great addition to any rotation.
Mets de facto ace for the time being. Not too shabby.
Unless he gets injured between now and the end of the year, I can see the Mets dropping a 3/60 per contract on him with a 4th year team option at $20M or $5M buyout. Otherwise, rotation next year is Scherzer, Carrasco (can’t see them not picking up the option), McGill, and Peterson. I’m sure they’ll retain DeGrom and doubt they keep Walker. Bassitt just sweetens the rotation with Peterson as a depth piece.
Megill not McGill lol
Megilol not McGilol
deGrom may leave. Mets may not want to pay 45 million on a pitcher that has had shoulder and arm issues for about a year now. Maybe he gets healthy and stays healthy. Who knows.
Bassit is a first class act in being a team player. If he stays healthy extending would be smart under a 3 to 4 year deal.
DeGrom, Scherzer, and Bassitt in the playoffs can get you a World Series. Right now I see an epic NLCS Mets vs Dodgers 7 games. Dodgers win this year but it can just as easily be the Mets. That’s if both teams are healthy…a Yankees vs Mets or Dodgers vs Angels World Series would just be insane,…
All good teams but Yanks are the best of the bunch. This from a Mets fan.
I can’t admit that I’m a Red Sox fan best I can say is I expect the Red Sox and Yankees to meet in the playoffs. Sox will get a wild card and Yanks will win over 100 and win the division
Take a page from the Padres, when Scherzer or deGrom come back use Megill and Peterson as piggy back guys to save the bullpen and all of their arms. Bassitt, Carrasco and Walker 3,4,5. Pads did it last week with Gore following Clevinger and Martinez following Snell as Clevinger and Snell returned from injuries. Use the depth, save the bullpen.
i like your idea but i would be more concerned with our starting pitching. As good as they have been there are issues with the top end of it with injury and age. Personally i would rather have a piggy back game of megill and peterson so each starter gets one more day of rest and that day hopefully saves the bullpen a game. I would also put this game right after a degrom or sherzer game so if anything does not feel right between starts you can split them up if needed or for a double header if planned right.
This all depends on what happens with degrom and sherzer who like their routines especially want.
Also i would probably put megill over walker depending on how they startup as megill seems a better choice to go deeper into games than walker as walker uses a lot of pitches to get through 5 if i remember right where megill seems to attack more.
Chris bassist in the open markets is easily going to command 4 years 80 mil minimum smh
This just demonstrates what an excellent move picking up Chris Bassitt was by the Mets FO. $8.65M for his production @ SP is ridiculous. Great acquisition to complement their staff, and now looks to be a critical acquisition to keeping them in 1st.
The Mets had a monster offseason, and while I was impressed, I didn’t see them as WS contenders until they signed Bassitt. A true ace in his own right. The finishing touch on a great team.