With about two weeks to go before teams open their spring training camps, a quality crop of free agents remains unsigned. Near the top of the pile is a Toronto Blue Jays starter who turned in a steely, much-needed performance out of the bullpen against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Chris Bassitt was forced to sit out the American League Division Series with lower back inflammation. But when he came back in the AL Championship Series, the 11-year veteran, while shut out of the starting rotation, took a place in the bullpen with no complaints and proceeded to throw 8 2/3 innings in the ALCS and World Series, allowing just a single run.
And then — Bassitt became a free agent. His three-year, $63 million contract with the Blue Jays expired when the World Series ended in an excruciating, 11-inning Game Seven defeat for Toronto.
Now, Bassitt remains unsigned, with an estimated price tag of $31 million over two seasons, according to the sports business site Spotrac.
But according to a longtime MLB insider, one National League powerhouse that is in a fast rebuilding mode is “in on” Bassitt.
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Atlanta Braves Reportedly Interested
According to MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post, speaking in an MLB Network interview on Tuesday, the Atlanta Braves, looking to get back to the playoffs after seven straight appearances — including a World Series championship in 2021 — before missing out with a 76-win season last year.
“The Braves are in on Bassitt. They’re looking in that area for a starter,” Heyman said in the MLB Network interview, adding that Bassitt is an “excellent, excellent starter.”
A 16th-round Chicago White Sox draft selection in 2011, Bassitt’s career has mostly borne out Heyman’s assessment.
With a career ERA of 3.64 in 232 big league games, Bassitt is one of a small number of pitchers to make at least 30 starts in each of the last four seasons. Another is Toronto’s big-name free agent signing of the offseason, former San Diego Padres righty Dylan Cease. Bassitt’s former Blue Jays rotation-mate Kevin Gausman has also done it.
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Braves in Quick Rebuild Mode
The Braves have not made a major, headline-grabbing move this offseason. But they have steadily upgraded their roster with a series of lower-profile but nonetheless effective moves.
After plucking shortstop Ha-Seong Kim off the waiver wire on September 1, the Braves then brought the slick-fielding five-year veteran back on a one-year, $20 million contract.
They signed free agent closer Robert Suarez, and outfielder/designated hitter Mike Yastrzemski, as well as former Gold Glove infielder Mauricio Dubón.
But outside of 36-year-old Cuban right-hander Raisel Iglesias, the Braves have done little to upgrade a starting rotation that ranked a lackluster 22nd in baseball with a 4.48 ERA last year.
Bassitt, on the other hand, has come in under 4.00 every year since 2018, except for 2014 when the Toledo, Ohio, native posted a 4.16 ERA in 31 starts, while throwing at least 150 innings in each of the last five seasons — and over 170 in each of the last four years.
The main obstacle to Atlanta signing Bassitt away from the Blue Jays, who have shown no real interest in bringing him back, would be cost.
“If we presume Bassitt is targeting something similar to the two-year, $40 million deal signed by fellow 37-year-old starter Merrill Kelly,” wrote Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors on Wednesday, “he’d come with about $5.7MM of taxes for the Braves, on top of his actual salary.”
