Reviewing the 2022 Oakland A’s Trades: Chris Bassitt
When the Oakland A’s began their rebuild this season, their first trade was sending their ace to the Queens. Chris Bassitt was traded to the Mets on March 12, with the A’s getting two pitching prospects in return.
Here are the full details of the trade and who the A’s got:
- Mets get: SP Chris Bassitt
- A’s get: SP J.T. Ginn, SP Adam Oller
The Numbers
After an All-Star season last year, Bassitt continued to be a very reliable starter. He had a 3.42 ERA in 181 innings and had a career-high 167 strikeouts. Bassitt relies on six pitches which makes him such a target for high strikeouts. His arsenal includes a sinker, cutter, slider, 4-seam fastball, curveball, and a changeup. His strikeout numbers were up, and it might be because of the types of pitches he threw this year. Compared to 2021, Bassitt threw a lot more of his secondary pitches such as his sinker, slider, and curve.
- Sinkers in 2022: 965
- Sinkers in 2021: 855
- Sliders in 2022: 470
- Sliders in 2021: 241
- Curveballs in 2022: 401
- Curveballs in 2021: 155
Despite his fastball being able to touch 97 mph, Bassitt didn’t have to rely on it as much in 2022. With the sinkers and curveballs attacking down, it also helped his GB% rise, sitting at 49.7% compared to 42.1% in 2021. He’s now a free agent, and being 33 years old he’s more likely to land a short-term deal for a higher AAV.
J.T. Ginn
The 22-year-old right-hander is currently the A’s No. 9 prospect. He’s a ground-ball specialist, having a 61.6% GB rate in the Mets organization. His first season in the A’s organization wasn’t special as a forearm injury limited him to 10 games in Double-A. Ginn pitched 35 innings in those 10 games, producing a 6.11 ERA and 41 strikeouts. The silver lining for Ginn was when he pitched in the Arizona Fall League this offseason. In five games, Ginn had a 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 14 strikeouts. 2023 needs to be a healthy one for Ginn, who has the ceiling to be a 3-4 starter in the A’s rotation.
Adam Oller
Oller was the minor league Pitcher of the Year in 2021. He made his MLB debut with the A’s in 2022, and that success from the minors did not transfer. Oller played in 19 games, 14 of which he started. His ERA was 6.30 and gave up 17 home runs while only striking out 46. Oller is also a six-pitch guy, with a 4-seam, cutter, changeup, curveball, sinker, and slider. That slider was only thrown 170 times by Oller, the fewest out of all his pitches. But yet he had the highest Whiff% on it at 28.9%. Oller will most likely start in the rotation, but he needs to mix in his slider along with the rest of his off-speed pitches to get more swing-and-misses.
This trade will most likely end in a tie unless Bassitt re-signs with the Mets or Ginn turns into a gem. Landing a filler player in Oller and a high pitching prospect in Ginn for a rental was a solid deal. Bassitt helped the Mets with their playoff push despite falling incredibly short, and Ginn’s ETA of 2024 puts him right in the middle of the A’s next playoff window.
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