President of baseball operations Mike Elias has made a habit of signing veteran starters to one-year contracts in recent years. They found some success with it Kyle Gibson in 2023. Last winter’s reunion with Gibson and additions from Charlie Morton And Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t go as planned. Bassitt is at a similar stage of his career as he approaches his 37th birthday, but he should have a higher floor than those previous additions.
Bassitt didn’t reach 100 MLB innings in a season until his age-30 campaign in 2019. He has been a consistent presence in the middle of the rotation over the past seven years. Only once did his earned run average rise above 4.00. His 2.29 rating during the shortened season was a slight outlier, but otherwise he was a safe bet, allowing between three and four earned runs per nine while maintaining a heavy workload. Bassitt has surpassed 150 innings in each of the last five seasons, one of only six pitchers to do so. He ranks eighth in total innings over that stretch.
The veteran right has combined the bulk with quality in the middle of the rotation. He is coming off a 3.96 ERA with slightly better than average underlying numbers. Bassitt fanned 22.6% of batters, compared to a 7.1% walk rate over 170 1/3 innings a year ago. His whiff rate per throw is slightly below average, but he has managed to knock out between 22 and 23% of opponents in each of the past four seasons.
Bassitt’s speed has slowed slightly now that he’s in his mid-30s. His sinker reached an average speed of 150 km/h last season, narrowly a career low. That’s still not far off the 90-90mph range he had been operating in throughout his career. The sinker is Bassitt’s main offering, but Statcast identified eight different throws that he used at least occasionally during his final season in Toronto. He usually works with a sinker, cutter and curveball and generally does a good job of limiting hard contact.
Perhaps the biggest concern is Bassitt’s issues against left-handed hitters. While he kept them in check earlier in his career, Bassitt has seen his platoon splits widen in recent seasons. Since the start of 2023, lefties have hit him at a .284/.360/.483 clip in over 1,200 plate appearances. He has held opponents with the same hand to a punchless .224/.286/.323 line in a similar number of at-bats over that stretch.
Bassitt will sign a three-year, $63 million contract with the division rival Blue Jays. He provided Toronto with 541 1/3 innings of 3.89 ERA ball during the regular season. Bassitt missed just one start as a minor bout of back inflammation put him on the injured list last September. He missed the Division Series victory over the Yankees, but returned for the AL Championship Series. Bassitt pitched in relief and emerged as one of John Schneider’s most trusted leverage weapons in October. He fired 8 2/3 innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts during Toronto’s pennant run.
A year after helping the Jays to a worst-place finish in the AL East, Bassitt hopes to accomplish the same feat with Baltimore. The Orioles have had a big offseason after falling to a 75-87 mark. They signed Pete Alonso (a former teammate of Bassitt’s in New York) to a monster five-year, $155 million contract. The O’s often changed injured starters Grayson Rodriguez for another right wing power bat, Taylor districtwhile dealing four prospects and a draft pick to the Rays Shane Baz. They signed Ryan Helsley to a two-year contract to replace the injured closer Felix Bautista and reunited with Zach Eflin on a $10 million contract.
The Orioles once again eschewed the top of the free agent starting pitching market, preferring to stand out in the middle of the lineup. They hope to unlock another tackle from Baz, a former top prospect who has shown flashes but has been inconsistent over the first few seasons. Trevor Rogers will look to build on the fantastic last few months of last year Kyle Bradish has a chance to become a mid-rotation starter now that he has recovered from Tommy John surgery.
Bassitt comes in behind Rogers, Bradish and Baz as the lock to open the year in Craig Albernaz’s rotation. Eflin is assured of the fifth starting role as long as he fully recovers from last August’s back surgery. He is expected to be a full participant in Spring Training, so that should be the case. That could push Daan Kremer and/or Tyler Wells back to Triple-A Norfolk to open the season. Both pitchers still have an option remaining, though both are approaching the five-year service limit at which they would earn the right to decline minor league assignments. Wells needs another 40 days on an MLB roster to get there, while Kremer is 60 days away.
The O’s could use Wells in long relief and start the year with Kremer rounding out a six-man rotation if they want both pitchers in the majors. A rotation surplus usually disappears on its own within a short time. The Braves, Blue Jays and Tigers all announced significant injury losses within the first two days of camp. Even if all of Baltimore’s starters are currently healthy, they would be lucky if that’s the case on Opening Day.
Bassitt may not be the top prospect O’s fans wanted, but he’s a sensible choice for a team that will be keeping an eye on Bradish and Eflin’s innings after losing seasons. MLBTR had projected a two-year contract worth $38 million at the start of the offseason. Baltimore was able to avoid committing that second offseason Merrill Kelly commanded the Diamondbacks’ $20 million annually for two years at the same age.
The O’s wage projection rises to $166 million, as calculated by Grid source. Despite the handful of key offseason pickups, they’re only about $6 million higher than where they opened last season. This will likely complete their major offseason trades, but they shouldn’t have a problem getting some money midseason if they’re in a position to buy. Bassitt’s removal from the market leaves Zac Gallen, Luke Giolito And Max Scherzer as the top free agents available to teams still looking to add.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the agreement and conditions. Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images.
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