After spending one year with the Mets, Chris Bassitt will pitch next year in Toronto, as he agreed to a 3/$63 million deal with the Blue Jays. The Mets extended the Qualifying Offer to Bassitt, so as a Competitive Balance Tax Payer, they will receive a compensatory pick that falls after the fourth round of the 2023 draft. That roughly works out to around the 140th overall pick in the draft, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
After signing Kodai Senga, there was no more room for Bassitt in the rotation. Bassitt did an excellent job of taking the ball every five days and for the most part, he pitched well, as he posted a 2.7 fWAR last season. Personally, I’m glad they got the younger, cheaper Senga for the spot. While there’s the unknown of how Senga will adapt to pitching in this country, Bassitt was as fun to watch pitch as Steve Trachsel was in the aughts.
There will be no tears shed for missing out on the constant shaking off by Bassitt of signs from the catcher. It will be curious to see how he does with the pitch clock this year. Maybe his starts won’t be the equivalent of watching paint dry with the new rules.
Bassitt was a good pitcher for us. It would be interesting to see him in the World Series next year.
I thought he would get more years, at least four, but that’s the way things shake out. I am glad we got five years of Senga at $ 15 million a year.
As we look at the trade, the Braves landed Sean Murphy in a three way deal. The Braves look strong on paper, plus they get Soroka and Albies back.
I have to agree with your assessment Brian.
Before and after he starts, it’s easy to appreciate the solid results he usually delivers. But watching him actually pitch is not very pleasant.
Rodon is probably gonna buck the trend, but interesting that the most amount of years committed to a pitcher so far is just 5 years, yet there are already 5 position players who have received 8+ years.
But in 2022 there were only 3 (out of 12) positions players aged 37+ with a positive fWAR while 10 (out of 22) pitchers aged 37+ had a positive fWAR. So not only are there more older pitchers that are in the game, a higher proportion of them are still useful. The comparison is similar for 2019 and 2021, though the raw numbers are lower.
So why are teams more willing to give mega deals to position players rather than pitchers? I haven’t got a clue.
Agree on your assessment of Bassitt and that Senga while riskier is the preferred direction.
Interesting point by Name…it also surprises me on the number of contracts of 5+ season. Frankly, I think it makes no financial sense be it a pitcher or a position player, but the market clearly indicates that multiple rich owners are willing to bid up the years on position players. My guess is that the inflated number of years are simply to reduce the AAV/bookkeeping and that the owners “value” these deals over a shorter term. Anecdotally, it seems like more “superstar” position players reach free agency at a younger age.
With salaries climbing, in no small part attributed to a crazy $19 million plus qualifying offer this year, it seems that locking up players on longer term deals for a lower AAV makes great economical sense. As salaries escalate, Nimmo’s deal at a little more than $20 per, will seem like a bargain. The Braves did a good job locking up some players and we should do the same for Alonso and McNeil with deals that encompass their current manageable dollars on the front end. Part of watching Bassett pitch was seeing who was going to have a harder time, the batter or the catcher, since he clearly controlled which of his several pitch variations he would throw during the course of a game. As someone who does not care about the length of games, there is no way we would have done as well without him, as he stepped up as as a #2 and headlined the rotation hen Max went down. So let’s thank him for his service but while Senga is an unknown to some extent, it’s because we really don’t follow players in Japan or Korea, he appears to be the real deal, is younger and might just be our #2 sooner than later when one of our very capable Medicare starters finally start showing their age. So the only pitcher we will have to frequently face is Walker who stayed in division. And to be honest, he had a good year for us as well, but not worthy of going from something like $7 million to $18 million a year given his injury history- but again $18 million is a bargain these days. If you want perspective, Tom Seaver earned about $6.6 million during his playing days or about what Walker will make in a third of a season. What a great country we live in. LGM
Bassitt and Quintana were very similar last year and are the same age. Quintana is cheaper and his contract in only two years. The $17m saved, pays for the first year of Senga’s contract. Senga replaced Walker. Senga is cheaper and supposedly better than Walker and 1/2 year younger. Both signings were good for the Mets.
deGrom vs. Verlander
The Mets lost deGrom, who is the best Ace pitcher when he’s on the mound but who is too fragile to count on for a full season of starts. This makes the net of Justin Verlander a net win for the Mets as more starts from a slightly inferior arm are still better.
Bassitt vs. Senga
People have said it. Senga has much more upside and is ultimately $5 Mil per year cheaper. Bassitt is a very good #2 pitcher who pitches consistently but he lacks an Ace edge to make him the big game pitcher we wanted him to be. Both for money and ceiling, this is a net win for the Mets.
Quintana vs. Walker
Taijuan Walker is a very good pitcher and this is the only loss where the Mets solution may not equal the loss. If Quintana pitches the way he did in 2022, the Mets win in spades but if Quintana reverts to being more the pitcher he had been prior to last season then the Mets will miss Walker. The money on Quintana vs. the money given to Walker is on the Mets side but this looks like it could be a net loss if Quintana regresses.
The Sean Murphy trade doesn’t compute to me. I agree he’s a great player and that the braves are reuniting him with Olson but the upgrade from William Contreras to Sean Murphy doesn’t seem worth the haul of prospects the Braves gave up. I really like this deal… for Oakland.
What i like most about Quintana over Walker is that Quintana is a lefty. I really do think a pitching staff needs more balance and we were desperately short on lefties last year.