A recent report came from Jeff Passan of ESPN that the New York Mets are “hoping for a return” from starting pitcher Chris Bassitt this offseason.
Passan also shared that thanks to some “behind-the-scenes-action” Bassitt could sign a deal as early as next week with baseball’s Winter Meetings set to take place.
Knowing this, it will be imperative that Billy Eppler act swiftly if they ultimately want to keep Bassitt in Queens.
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Why the Mets should be hopeful they can re-sign Chris Bassitt:
With the first and third starting rotation spots in flux for the Mets right now and the big unknown surrounding Jacob deGrom, they have to make a considerable offer to Bassitt.
Bassitt is coming off of a 15-win season in which he posted a 3.42 ERA and threw 181.2 innings for the Mets over 30 starts. He has also proven himself to be consistent over the last five years now, recording an ERA of 3.81 or better each season since 2018.
When assessing how the Mets starting rotation could look following this offseason, there are at least two viable replacements for deGrom out there with Justin Verlander and Carlos Rodon. Should the Mets lose Bassitt, there is much more of an unknown. Perhaps, they could and likely would have to land Kodai Senga, who would undoubtedly bring intrigue.
In the end, Bassitt will command at least three years on his upcoming contract and probably surpass an average annual salary of $20 million. For the Mets to keep the middle of their rotation dominant with an elite third starter, they have to hope they can find a way to get Bassitt back under contract shortly, especially if his market is as busy as Passan reported.