While the top-tier free agents such as Bo Bichette, Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, and Cody Bellinger are occupying a lot of the offseason spotlight, several starting pitchers are still available.

One of those arms is Chris Bassitt, who concluded his three-year, $63 million contract with the Blue Jays at the end of last season. In 2025, Bassitt pitched to an 11-9 record, 3.96 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and an 8.8 K/9 through 32 appearances. He missed the last week or so of the regular season with lower back inflammation, marking the first time he was placed on the IL since 2022.

Bassitt was back on the active roster for the ALCS and World Series, flourishing out of the bullpen over 8 and 2/3 innings. The Toledo, Ohio native allowed just one earned run in those frames while giving up just three hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts.

One would assume the Blue Jays won’t bring Bassitt back, given they have already signed pitchers Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce this winter. However, free agency results in unpredictable outcomes. Several other teams are in the mix for starting pitching, and Bassitt’s name has been thrown around as a possibility for many of those teams. Spotrac currently projects Bassitt’s market value at $15.6 million AAV.

Let’s take a look at a few teams that are looking for starting pitching and/or would be ideal fits for Bassitt.

The back end of the Rangers’ rotation is still cloudy at the moment. They signed swingman Tyler Alexander to a one-year, $1.125 million deal back in mid-December, and they also have last year’s swingman Jacob Latz returning; however, GM Chris Young still doesn’t have a definite role for him yet. Both of those arms could end up making starts for Texas this season.

Bassitt would be an ideal fit here as it would shore up a spot for a surefire starter for 2026. Speaking of surefire, Bassitt’s durability (a word you’ll use multiple times in this article) could give the Rangers some depth in case of injuries to other starters. As unfortunate as it is to point out, Jacob deGrom’s injury history doesn’t paint the most promising picture.

A pair of young starters in Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter appear to be in the running for rotation spots; while Leiter built a solid 2025 in almost his first full season, Rocker was optioned to Triple-A multiple times last season after battling a shoulder injury and poor performance.

Again, this doesn’t seem like a complete rotation yet. Signing an established starter like Bassitt is in the cards.

The Padres have had several starting pitchers become unavailable in various ways. They dealt away Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek at last year’s trade deadline, Yu Darvish underwent elbow surgery back in late-October, and Dylan Cease joined the Blue Jays on a free agent deal.

Thankfully, they did re-sign Michael King to a three-year, $75 million contract, and Joe Musgrove is on track to return from his ’24 Tommy John procedure, so the rotation isn’t completely in shambles.

However, multiple sources from The Athletic reported last month that San Diego might be willing to trade some of their major league pieces, with Nick Pivetta being one of them. San Diego has gone all out in the trade market over the past two seasons, acquiring Mason Miller, Tanner Scott, Jason Adam, and several other pieces, which have burned a hole in the farm system. Hence, it’s no surprise that those reports mention the Padres looking for younger players in return to help make up for what has been lost.

What does this have to do with Bassitt? Should the Padres pull the trigger on a Pivetta trade (or perhaps another arm), that would put San Diego in a similar situation as the Rangers, in which their rotation is unfinished, and a spot would be available for the veteran righty. Even if a trade doesn’t materialize, the Padres baseball-sphere certainly believes that there is still room for another veteran arm.

Also, like the Rangers, Bassitt would be pitching for a club that is in a position to compete for a 2026 playoff spot.

Although the Yankees were rumoured to be involved in trading for Miami’s Edward Cabrera, the Cubs swooped in and were able to complete a deal on Wednesday afternoon.

That just reinforces that the Yankees will be in the mix for starting pitching between now and the start of the season, as they will be without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón to open the 2026 campaign. Per Bryan Hoch of MLB, Cole is still recovering from Tommy John surgery and is expected to return around May & June, while Rodón is more in the April/May timeframe after having elbow surgery to remove some loose bodies and shave down a bone spur.

Furthermore, Clarke Schmidt also had Tommy John surgery last July, and his return is expected around the latter half of 2026. All that to say, the Yankees need some starting pitching.

Bassitt, who has pitched in the New York market before with the Mets, might be a good fit in this scenario. He can start the season with a solidified spot in their rotation and serve as durable and dependable insurance in case of any recovery setbacks to the aforementioned names. Bassitt is already accustomed to AL East competition, accumulating 23 starts against Boston, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay over the past three seasons.

Bassitt wearing pinstripes might look a little funky given they’re a Jays rival, but a need is a need.

The Atlanta Braves’ rotation took blow after blow last season with injuries to their starting pitchers. Chris Sale, Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Reynaldo López all missed a variation of their respective 2025 seasons with injuries, forcing the team to have 46 different players throw a pitch for them last season.

Now, the rotation is in much better shape with almost all of the above names ready to go, but that doesn’t mean that the concern of pitching depth is something of the past for the Braves. In an interview with MLB.com, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos said that adding starting pitching is still a possibility to help prepare for any injuries that may present themselves.

Although front-line targets such as Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez are still available, Bassitt would still be a nice (and cheaper) fit here for similar reasons already mentioned. He’s a guy who can pick up the ball every five days and provide solid results. Something tells me health and consistency would be ordered by Anthopoulos if it were given to him on a free agent menu.

The Braves have sizably added to their roster thus far already this winter, signing outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, reliever Robert Suarez, and infielder Ha-Seong Kim, as well as trading for utility man Mauricio Dubón.

I have no evidence to believe that this is even possible, and it might be the dumbest prediction for this article. However, the Pirates are singing a different tune this winter.

They traded for 2B Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum, and RP Mason Montgomery from the Rays, signed RP Gregory Soto and DH Ryan O’Hearn via free agency, and also traded for power-hitting prospect Jhostynxon Garcia from the Boston Red Sox. These moves aren’t Earth-shattering, but it’s the first time the organization has shown they want to build around their ace, Paul Skenes.

Bassitt would easily be the oldest starter in Pittsburgh’s rotation, and perhaps a veteran would be a benefit to a rotation that is one of the youngest (but very talented) in baseball.

This type of move could be two-fold, though; should the Pirates not be in position to compete for a playoff spot in 2026, Bassitt being on a short-term deal would make him an ideal trade candidate at the deadline. Again, maybe I’m reaching here, but surely this isn’t the craziest idea.