Orioles sign Chris Bassitt to one-year contract
It has been a very busy offseason for the Baltimore Orioles, and that continued today. The O’s started the offseason with a bang by signing first basemen Pete Alonso to a five-year deal. They then followed up with trading for pitcher Shane Baz from the Tampa Bay Rays. Last week they continued their busy free agency by trading for infielder Blaze Alexander as well. Their latest free agency signing was earlier this evening by signing Chris Bassitt to a one-year, $18 million contract.
As the 2025 season went on, it was evident that the Orioles were desperate for arms. Most of their big-name pitchers like Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish were hurt, and the ones that were healthy were not producing. A lot went wrong for the O’s last season, but it boiled down to two things: injuries and pitching. The O’s look to avoid this problem in 2026 with their two acquisitions so far.
Bassitt has been a strong pitcher his entire 11-year career. In 232 career games Bassitt pitched to a 3.64 ERA with 1,191 strikeouts in 1,278.2 innings. Bassitt broke into the majors in 2014 with the Chicago White Sox, where he had a 3.94 ERA in six games. Bassitt really didn’t break onto the scene until the 2021 season. Bassitt had a 3.15 ERA in 157.1 innings pitched with 159 strikeouts. Major League Baseball named him one of the American League All-Stars that season, representing the Oakland Athletics.
The Orioles had the 12th-youngest team in Major League Baseball in 2025. Bassitt brings lots of experience both in the regular season and in the postseason. He’s made the playoffs three times in his career (OAK, NYM, TOR) with the most recent appearance coming in the World Series with the Blue Jays last fall. The O’s can really use this experience given the majority of their team only has two postseason years of experience or less.
Baltimore also looks to find something they haven’t had in quite a few years: a reliable starting pitcher to eat innings. The last two years for the team have been a carousel of starting and relief pitching, and Bassitt looks to put that to rest by being a common name in the rotation.
Bassitt should bring years of valuable experience to a young and hungry O’s club. He’ll head straight to Sarasota to join the rest of the pitchers for Spring Training, and its takeoff from there. Orioles fans should be very excited to see what Bassitt can bring this ballclub in ’26.
