Mets acquired a right-hander Chris Bassitt from athletics in a deal officially announced by both teams. Jeff Passan of ESPN was be the first to report that Bassitt was on his way to New York while Joel Sherman of The New York Post announced that Oakland will get promising right-handed pitchers JT Jinn as well as Adam Oller in exchange for a 33-year-old All-Star.
Bassitt was flagged as one of the most likely players to change teams this offseason as he only had one year of arbitration control (at a $8.8 million projected salary) to free agency, and the A’s were known to be looking to cut payroll. . As the Mets looked for further pitching improvements, Bassitt seemed like a logical target for New York to add to a rotation that also saw Max Scherzer come to Queens before the lockout.
with Scherzer and Jacob de Grom on top of the rotation Bassitt will stand nearby taijuan walker as well as Carlos Carrasco in what looks like one of baseball’s best rotations right now if everyone is healthy. Of course, that’s a big “if” given that deGrom and Carrasco have missed big chunks of the 2021 season with injuries and even Scherzer has struggled with a dead arm in the postseason.
Bassit himself suffered a serious injury last August when he was hit in the face by a linear actuator and required surgery to repair his facial fractures. After a fairly remarkable recovery, Bassitt even returned to the mound for two reduced starts, spending over a month on the injured list. The comeback capped off a very impressive season for Bassit, who played well for most of his seven seasons in MLB and has been one of baseball’s top pitchers for the past two years.
After finishing eighth in AL Cy Young voting in the shortened 2020 season, Bassitt maintained his great form over 157 1/3 frames in 2021, which saw him finish tenth in the AL Cy Young race and his first All-Star. . Bassitt posted a 3.15 ERA, 25% strikeouts and 6.1% walking, as well as some very hard hitting the ball. Unknown for his high speed or high spin rate, Bassitt has a five-field mix that generally does a good job of throwing hitters off balance.
Those are very solid numbers for a No. 3 starter, and they give the Mets a pitching opportunity before turning caliber if DeGrom, Carrasco, or any other pitcher misses time. The addition of Bassitt also lengthens the pitching set overall, as the Mets can now use Tylor Megill as well as David Peterson primarily as spot starters, Triple-A depths, or even long pitchers depending on the needs of the team.
Between Bassit and free agent signings Starling Marte as well as Mark Kanya, there is a distinct shade of Auckland green-gold on the Mets’ 2022 list. Mets team president Sandy Alderson, of course, has long-standing ties to the A organization, serving as Oakland’s general manager from 1983 to 1997 and then returning to the organization as an advisor in 2019-20 before the Mets brought Alderson back when Steve Cohen took over the franchise . .
It’s entirely possible that today’s deal could be the first of many for Billy Bean and company over the next few weeks, depending on how far the A’s go with their latest sale. While the club has always resisted complete demolition during Bean’s long tenure, big names such as Sean Manea, Matt Olson, Matt Chapmanas well as Frankie Montaz can also potentially walk out the door. Manea enters his last year of team control, while Olson/Chapman/Montas each have their remaining two seasons of arbitration rights.
When reloading list A, a couple of new hands were added. Ginn is the most famous of the duo, ranked fifth by MLB Pipeline and sixth by Baseball America on their lists of the top 30 Mets prospects. The Mississippi State product, a 2020 second-round pick, had a 3.03 ERA in 92 combined innings with the New York A- and High-A affiliates in 2021. It was a good result for Jeanne’s first professional season, and perhaps even more. impressive considering Genie was returning from Tommy John surgery in early 2020. Genie has a quality fastball (usually around the 90s, but it reaches the 95-97 mph range) and sinker, and generates a lot of ground balls.
As noted Tim Healy of NewsdayNow that Ginn is heading to the Athletics, the Mets have parted ways with five of their six players selected in the 2020 draft, the last amateur draft under former Mets general manager Brody Van Wagenen. Fifth round Eric Orze last remaining player like Genie, Pete Crow-Armstrong (for Javier Baez), Isaiah Green (for Carrasco and Francisco Lindor), as well as Matthew Dyer (for Rich Hill) were sold in high-profile deals, while Anthony Walters was released.
Oller was originally drafted in the 20th round with the Pirates in 2016 and his career includes indieball and ABL appearances, as well as minor league appearances with the Bucks, Giants and (in the 2021 season years) Mets. A starter for most of his minor league career, Oller has a 4.05 ERA in 380 1/3 innings on the farm, and he reached Double-A and Triple-A levels for the first time in 2021. The reason is that the 27-year-old can serve as some rotation depth for the A’s this season, as a big league-ready hand that can interfere in some starts if the need arises (due to injury or more trades).
Not all….