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3 A’s players we’d love to see on the Phillies if Oakland has a fire sale

By Gabrielle Starr

Sep 12, 2021; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Lou Trivino (62) reacts after the final out of the top of the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 12, 2021; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Lou Trivino (62) reacts after the final out of the top of the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers at RingCentral Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chris Bassitt
Jul 30, 2021; Anaheim, California, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Chris Bassitt (40) reacts after the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Chris Bassitt / SP

If Chris Bassitt‘s name sounds familiar, it might be because of his horrific injury last season, when he got hit in the face by a line drive in August.

But he’s a solid pitcher, and would be a good short-term upgrade for the Phillies’ starting rotation.

At the end of the 2021 season, Phillies president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, told the media that the team’s top offseason priorities were slugging outfielders and bullpen arms. However, a strong case could be made for upgrading the rotation, too, as the Phillies have quantity, but not enough quality in that area.

Aside from Cy Young runner-up Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suárez, the 2021 rotation was an unmitigated disaster. Zach Eflin only made 18 starts before hitting the IL and needing knee surgery, Aaron Nola was more hurtful than helpful, and Vince Velasquez and Chase Anderson were just two of many pitchers so bad they didn’t last the season.

Bassitt, meanwhile, has a career 3.47 ERA over seven seasons and has been especially excellent in recent years. He set a new personal-best 18.8 K-BB% in 2021, and according to MLBTR, his 2.90 ERA dating back to 2020 is seventh in MLB among pitchers with 200+ innings over that span.

Not to say that you should judge a player entirely on one metric, but Bassitt’s 3.15 ERA last season was better than Nola, Eflin, Velasquez, Anderson, Matt Moore, Kyle Gibson, the list goes on for a while.

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