Grading the Mets’ Chris Bassitt trade

After a relatively quiet start to the post-lockout portion of the offseason, the Mets finally made a big move, acquiring RHP Chris Bassitt from the Athletics for JT Ginn and Adam Oller. Bassitt might be the proverbial “best starting pitcher you’ve never heard of”, at least over the last three seasons. Since 2019, Bassitt’s 3.26 ERA is the 15th lowest in baseball among pitchers with at least 200 innings (deGrom and Scherzer are 1st and 5th respectively, if you were curious). Certainly sounds like a nice addition, and that first impression is basically accurate.

By traditional peripherals, Bassitt might seem lucky. His strikeout and walk rates are good but unremarkable, his ERA predictors…