New York Mets Pitcher Chris Bassitt: 'I'd Love to Stay Here Long Term'
New York Mets starting pitcher Chris Bassitt sees the bigger picture.
Bassitt and the Mets agreed to a one-year, $8.8 million deal to avoid arbitration on Saturday, per The Athletic. Bassitt's contract will pay him $8.65 million in 2022 and also includes a mutual option of $19 million for 2023 or an $150,000 buyout.
The 33-year-old, who the Mets acquired from the Oakland Athletics in an offseason trade, has loved his time in New York so far and didn't want to mess up a good thing.
"I was playing a chess game in [Adam] Ottavino's room last night, and that was pretty much the first time I became involved in it," Bassitt told reporters. "I didn't want to be involved in it until last night. And it was basically, 'We think we have a deal in place.' And I said, 'All right, go do it.' I didn't want to go to trial. I like everyone here. And it was more so just I think we have a really great relationship here and just why even remotely try to mess with that?"
Bassitt has gotten off to a strong start to his Mets tenure, going 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 49 strikeouts across eight outings.
Bassitt will become a free agent after the season ends if his mutual option isn't exercised, and admitted that he'd love to sign a long-term deal to stay with the Mets. However, the righty doesn't want to become a distraction and is focused on what's in front of him right now: winning.
"A lot of people are short-term thinking right now," Bassitt said. "We have such a special group that I don't want to really be a distraction and hurt that in any way. So if something happens, it happens. If something does happen, I'm really happy about that. I love it here. Love everyone here so far. So, yeah, I'd loved to stay here long term. But, again, I'm so focused right now on this year and what this team needs right now that it's hard to think about '23, '24, whatever, how many years. So, again, I'm just focused as best as I can right now what this team needs right now -- and that's it."
The righty is now the Mets' ace in their rotation after Max Scherzer suffered an oblique strain that will sideline him for six to eight weeks. The Mets' other injured ace, Jacob deGrom, is likely to opt out of his contract following the season, which would make him a free agent as well. This would give the Mets two key decisions to make when addressing their rotation next offseason.
But at the moment, Bassitt isn't concerned about what the future holds. The veteran hurler believes the Mets have a legitimate chance at winning a World Series title this year, which is the only thing he is thinking about.
"I think one of the biggest blessings about all this was just how good this team is," Bassitt said. "If I was on a bad team, I think it would be a way different story in the aspect that, I think, selfishly, you'd be thinking more about yourself rather than, thankfully, what I'm here for, which is we have a real chance to win a World Series and that's all I've been thinking about is just what it kind of takes to put our team in the best spot to do that."
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