Top 20 free agents & where they’ll sign part 2

3 Years/$60 Million with the New York Mets

Chris Bassitt might not jump off the page, but he had a 15-9 W-L record and a 3.42 ERA/3.66 FIP in 30 games and 181.2 innings for the New York Mets in 2022. He also had 8.3 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. Bassitt was worth 3.2 WAR. He also has a solid career 3.45 ERA/3.81 FIP in 136 games and 737.1 innings.

What are his red flags? Well, he’s already 33 years old and has quite an injury history. In his 8 year Major League career, he only topped 100 innings three times (144.0 in 2019, 157.1 in 2021 and 181.2 in 2022). That’d definitely going to worry a lot of suitors when it comes to giving him a large contract.

Chris Bassitt was actually even better in 2021. He went 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA/3.34 FIP in 27 games and 157.1 innings. He also had 9.1 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 and was worth 4.0 WAR. That was an actual ace performance and even earned him a 10’th place finish in AL Cy Young voting. If we go a year earlier, he had a 5-2 record and a 2.29 ERA/3.59 FIP in the shortened 2020 season. It’s clear that he’s a potential top of the rotation starter for now at least.

Who will sign Chris Bassitt? I expect there to be a strong market for him, as he probably won’t top 3 years at $20 million a year. The New York Mets will have a couple of holes in the rotation to fill, so I expect them to go hard at bringing him back. The Texas Rangers could be strong contenders as well, as should the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Francisco Giants. The fourth year could in fact be the hold-up.

Schedule