Blue Jays, RHP Chris Bassitt Agree to Three-Year Contract, per Reports
The Blue Jays are poised to sign starting pitcher Chris Bassitt to a three-year, $63 million deal, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.
After six seasons with the Oakland A’s, Bassitt played last year for the Mets following an offseason trade. On the season, he started 30 games and went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA as the team’s No. 3 starter. His 181 2/3 innings pitched led the New York pitching staff in 2022.
Bassitt has recorded an ERA under 4.00 in six of his eight major league seasons. Additionally, he has been durable, appearing in 96 total games over the past four years.
Toronto adds Bassitt to a rotation with Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman at the top, along with José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi. While Manoah and Gausman provided Toronto a 1-2 punch, both Berríos and Kikuchi struggled after signing big-money deals with the team last offseason. Adding a consistent starter in Bassitt should help stabilize the rotation.
The Blue Jays have been busy recently, as they also agreed to a deal with center fielder Kevin Kiermaier over the weekend. In 2022, Toronto won 92 games, finishing in second place in the AL East but losing to the Mariners in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
