Chris Bassitt signs a three-year, $63 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. This is the most notable signing that the Blue Jays have inked despite being very active this offseason. They did sign Kevin Kiermaier, and he is, in fact, one of the best center fielders in the game, but the Blue Jays we in the mix and lost out on the biggest free-agent pitchers this winter. It is worth mentioning that Bassitt is another pitcher in his mid-thirties and beyond that signed a contract with an AAV of over $20M. Coincidentally, the Blue Jays were targeting all of them. Justin Verlander (age 40 season), Jacob deGrom (age 35 season), and now Bassitt (age 34 season).
Pitchers must have started to age like wine, although, the first to are likely HOF pitchers along with another one in Clayton Kershaw (age 35 season), who just re-signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers for $20M. After missing out on deGrom and Verlander to the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, respectively, The Blue Jays were not about to miss out on Bassitt. Bassitt had shown signs of greatness throughout his six-year tenure with the Oakland Athletics. His best full season with the A’s was 2021 in which he pitched to a 3.15 ERA (131 ERA+), with 159 strikeouts in 27 starts. This is what led the Mets to sign him for a 1-year pact with a club option, which was declined. The Mets opted to buy out the option for $150,000, and say goodbye to Bassitt. As a result, the Blue Jays got their guy.
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The Rotation Bassitt Signs Onto
The Blue Jays rotation is pretty deep. However, with Hyun Jin Ryu recovering from Tommy John surgery and Ross Stripling leaving in free Agency, they needed help. Nevertheless, the Blue Jays are so deep that they can still field a top-tier staff. Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, and Alek Manoah are slated to the rotation thus far. Furthermore, they have the once highly-touted, yet oft-injured Nate Pearson vying for the fifth spot. When he is healthy, Pearson spits fire. Unfortunately, he has pitched a total of 33 innings across his first two seasons. He does look to be healthy coming into 2023 and will try to live up to all the hype he came up with. The Blue Jays also have Mitch White and Yusei Kikuchi fighting for that same fifth rotation spot. The Blue Jays may not be done yet this winter, but they are starting to get very interesting.
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Chris Bassitt, Kevin Kiermaier, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun Jin Ryu, Ross Stripling, Jose Berrios, Alek Manoah, Nate Pearson, Mitch White, Yusei Kikuchi, Kevin Gausman
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