Bassitt to Toronto, per reports

Chris Bassitt and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to terms on a three year, $63 million deal, per reports.

Bassitt, who turns 34 in February, was originally drafted by the Chicago White Sox, and was sent to the Oakland A’s in 2014 for Jeff Samardzija in the same trade that sent Marcus Semien to Oakland. He didn’t become a regular in a major league rotation until 2019, but has been solid during that time. He was acquired by the New York Mets prior to the 2022 season for J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller, and put up a 3.2 bWAR/2.7 fWAR.

Bassitt received the qualifying offer, and I thought that might put a damper on his market, but that’s apparently not the case. The projections had Bassitt at three years for around $16-18M per year. He landed at three years, but at $21M per.

If Bassitt can continue to be a three win pitcher going forward, this is a very solid signing for the Jays. They are getting his age 34-36 seasons, and Bassitt doesn’t have a real long track record of success, so there’s risk there. I’m not sure if the Rangers were still in on him at this point, but this isn’t a deal that I’m upset the Rangers missed out on.