So as I’m sure you know by now, the Major League Baseball imposed lockout is officially over. We’ve all seen the images of players returning to spring training at various sites, but it really doesn’t hit home until Steve Cohen acquires a player and says “pssssh” to your fourth tier luxury tax which is named after him and acquires a mid-rotation starter due to make close to $9 million this season.
Can confirm the #Mets are acquiring Chris Bassit from the A’s. The return is JT Ginn and Adam Oller.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) March 12, 2022
Admittedly, I didn’t think Bassitt would be the Oakland Athletics’ starter the Mets would trade for. But at 12-4 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP, Bassitt is an excellent choice. The two concerns are that he’s a free agent after this season, so they gave up two prospects for a rental, and that his numbers in 2021, while very good overall, weren’t so good against the two A.L. teams with the highest OBP (Houston and Chicago). But knowing that he’s not going to face Houston and Chicago every night in the N.L. East is comforting. That and, in case you forgot, he’ll be the third starter in a staff that includes Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer.
But this is a win now move, and it’s obvious that the Mets will not be fazed by any “fourth tier tax” that is designed to get Steve Cohen not to spend any money he has left over after paying Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, Matt Canha, Robinson Cano, Bobby Bonilla, and Bret Saberhagen. Meanwhile …
Heard from a small-market GM concerned by the big market Giants’ ability to give $44M over 2 years (plus the opt out) to Carlos Rodon, especially now that the luxury tax threshold is up $20M to $230M. It’ll be harder for the little guy to compete, the GM said.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 12, 2022
That was no small market GM. Hey Jeffy, how ya doin’?
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
