The New York Mets and Chris Bassitt joined forces in March after Bassitt was traded to New York from the Oakland Athletics. Bassitt has said before that he's enjoying his time in New York and wanted to avoid arbitration.
Bassitt and the Mets were able to do exactly that.
The Mets and Bassitt agreed over the weekend to an $8.8 million deal. The deal will include a $19 million option for the 2023 season. If the deal wasn't made, the arbitration hearing would have taken place on Monday, May 23.
Chris Bassitt has had a great start with his new ball club. He's currently the New York Mets ace because of injuries to Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. Bassitt in eight starts this season is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA and a 1.099 WHIP.
Bassitt was happy that the deal got done, with plenty of positive things to say about the Mets.
“I’m happy that it’s not going to be a distraction for anybody,” Bassitt said, noting that he wasn’t involved in the negotiations until Friday night when he received a phone call while playing chess with teammate Adam Ottavino. “That’s the biggest thing for me. … I didn’t want to go to trial. I liked everyone here. I think we have a great relationship here. Why even remotely try to mess with that?”
Bassitt thanks his former and current teammates, as well as his coaches.
“I have a lot of great people in my corner, including former teammates, former coaches that all just basically said, ‘You be yourself, and everything’s going to work out in New York, I promise you,’” Bassitt said. “I came here and I’ve been myself, and everything’s worked out. I’m happy to be here. I’m grateful to be here. But at the same time, I’m trying to do the best I can for everybody to get through this. Obviously, losing Jake, losing Max, it puts a lot more pressure on everybody else.”
The Mets certainly have a chance to win the World Series this year. If they're going to win a World Series, they need Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer back and healthy. The Mets with those two guys are arguably the best team in all of baseball.
