The Baltimore Orioles took a big step backward in 2025, and one of the big reasons why was that their starting pitching was a mess for most orf the year. They've done a lot to change that in the offseason, and made another move on Wednesday by signing righty Chris Bassitt to a one-year deal.
After two straight playoff seasons, the Baltimore Orioles took a huge step backward in 2025, finishing dead last in the American League East with just 75 wins. Pitching was a big reason why. Their 4.60 team earned run average was fifth-worst in all of baseball.
They've spent much of the offseason trying to fix that, and they were still hard at work on Wednesday, singing veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt to a one-year, $18.5 million contract. Bassitt, who turns 37 next Sunday, spent the last three seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. He's spent 12 years in the majors, most recently going 11-9 with a 3.96 ERA in 31 starts.
He had a great playoff run for Toronto, allowing just one run in 8 2/3 innings with 10 strikeouts, getting a lot of meaninful outs in their run through seven games of the World Series before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bassitt pitched 541 1/3 innings for Toronto over three seasons, ninth-most in baseball. But the Blue Jays added Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce early the offseason, and rookie Trey Yesaveage turned into a star in the postseason. That made Bassitt expendable. The Blue Jays didn't need him any more, but they certainly can't be happy that he landed with a division rival.
The Orioles already have a good offense led top draft picks Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday, and they added sluggers Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward this winter. They will score runs, and are hoping the improved pitching will put them back in the division race.
Bassitt will join hard-throwing Shane Baz, acquired this winter from Tampa Bay, and Trevor Rogers ikn the rotation. They re-signed Zach Eflin to a $10 million deal and are hoping to get a full year out of Kyle Bradish. Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells could still be in the mix as well.
Baltimore also added Ryan Helsley as the closer to replace injured star Felix Bautista.