Mets acquire righthander Chris Bassitt from Athletics
Athletics starting pitcher Chris Bassitt delivers against the Yankees during the second inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on June 19, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Forty-eight hours after MLB lifted its transaction freeze, the Mets made a big move Saturday night, acquiring righthanded starter Chris Bassitt from the Athletics for a pair of minor-league pitchers, the team announced.
Bassitt helps fill out — and, crucially, solidify — a Mets rotation that should be one of the best in baseball if each pitcher performs to his potential. Their first five will be, in some order: Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker, who was an All-Star last season.
The Mets traded righthanders J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller to Oakland, a significant but tolerable cost for a team in win-now mode.
Bassitt, scheduled to be a free agent after this season, is 33 and was a late bloomer with Oakland, not establishing himself as a full-time big-leaguer until 2019. He had a 3.15 ERA last year, when he was an All-Star for the first time, and has a 3.26 ERA the past three years.
Last season probably was his best extended stretch of success, including career bests in strikeout rate (25%), walk rate (6.1%), WHIP (1.06) and opponents’ batting average (.216).
He made scary headlines in August 2021 when he was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of the White Sox’s Brian Goodwin, causing a fracture and necessitating surgery. After missing about a month, he returned for two abbreviated starts, allowing one run in 6 1⁄3 innings.
With Bassitt joining Scherzer as offseason rotation additions, the Mets can push Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Jordan Yamamoto — all of whom have major-league experience — into the Triple-A Syracuse portion of the depth chart, waiting for an inevitable need in the majors.
Ginn was among the Mets’ best pitching prospects. He was considered a potential first-round draft pick before needing Tommy John surgery in 2020, and when he fell to the second round, the Mets snagged him.
This is the latest in a series of deals in which the Mets have shown a willingness to trade prospects acquired by former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen. Of their six-man 2020 draft class, one player remains: Eric Orze.
Turning the 27-year-old Oller into (part of) Bassitt is a win for the Mets’ pro scouting and player development departments. They plucked him from the Giants’ system in the minor-league phase of the 2019 Rule 5 draft. He ended up their minor-league pitcher of the year in 2021 after posting strong numbers with Syracuse and Double-A Binghamton.
