Blue Jays, RHP Bassitt, agree to 3-year contract
The Toronto Blue Jays strengthened their rotation on Monday, agreeing to a $63 million, three-year deal with Chris Bassitt.
A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the move to the AP on condition of anonymity because it was pending a successful physical.
Toronto is coming off its second playoff appearance in three years, but it hasn’t won a postseason series since it advanced to the 2016 AL Championship Series. It was swept in the wild-card round in 2020 and again this year.
Bassitt joins a rotation fronted by Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman. The Blue Jays also have José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi, and Hyun Jin Ryu could return at some point in 2023 after he missed the last part of the season because of an elbow injury.
The 33-year-old Bassitt became a free agent when he declined his $19 million option with the New York Mets, following rotation mates Jacob deGrom and Taijuan Walker into free agency.
Bassitt went 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 30 starts after the Mets acquired the righthander in a trade with Oakland at the end of the lockout. He set career highs for wins, starts, innings (181 2/3) and strikeouts (167).
Bassitt was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 16th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of the University of Akron. He made his big league debut in 2014, then was traded from Chicago to Oakland that December.
Bassitt really started to come into his own during his final three years with the Athletics, going 2711 with a 3.26 ERA in 66 games, 63 starts.
The Toledo, Ohio, native is 46-34 with a 3.45 ERA in 136 career games over eight seasons. He earned his only All-Star selection in 2021.