Atkins speaks: Chris Bassitt, finances, free agents, the trade market, and more!
Atkins speaks: Chris Bassitt, finances, free agents, the trade market, and more!
On Bassitt's arsenal, clubhouse presence, game calling, the aging curve, defence, the fifth starter, Ricky Tiedemann, areas of need, free agents, the trade market, and more!
Jays GM Ross Atkins spoke to reporters via Zoom on Monday afternoon, prior to the unveiling of new free agent signing Chris Bassitt. The big right-hander will get most of the day’s headlines, but you and I know that obviously the most interesting stuff was always going to come from the mouth of the GM — particularly with more and more potential free agent targets coming off the board, and the Jays’ financial picture cloudy as ever.
So here it is! Everything Atkins said during the session, as well as my notes on his comments.
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Though what you’ll see below is a full transcript of Atkins’ answers to reporters questions, for the sake of clarity I’ve separated the session into two sections — one specifically about Bassitt, and the other about the offseason as a whole. I’ve also rearranged the order of a couple of questions for the same reason.
Enjoy!
On Chris Bassitt
What will the addition of Bassitt bring to the Blue Jays?
Really excited. It was really good to have a former teammate, obviously, in talking to Matt Chapman about the teammate that he is, the person, the influence that he'll have on our clubhouse. The arsenal is unique in that it is so dynamic. I think our catchers are going to have a good time getting up to speed with game-calling and being prepared for the depth of his arsenal. There aren't too many pitchers in the game that can say concretely that they have seven weapons, if not more. So, really excited about the person, the teammate.
The competitiveness has always stood out to us as being elite, and learning more about it from his former teammate and others around the game. Feel like it's an incredible compliment to the team.
Alright, we’re just warming up here with some of the ol’ Atkins boilerplate. Though it’s maybe interesting, somehow, that he’d draw attention to game-calling here, given that Danny Jansen is the catcher we’ve most heard talked about in trade rumblings, and the perceived deficiencies in this regard among the other two. Get to work, boys!
But also, the stuff about the number of pitches Bassitt throws is worth noting here. Statcast only picks up six different offerings from him, but there are actually two versions of the slider he throws. Back in May, Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told Nick Groke of the Athletic: “He’s got the four-seam and the two-seam, a change up, the hard slider, the slow slider, the cutter and the slow curveball.”
As Ross suggests, the depth of Bassitt’s arsenal does create issues when it comes to game calling — though maybe not in the ways that you’d expect.
Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News wrote back in May about how Mets catchers needed to convince Bassitt to use PitchCom. Among other things, the electronic pitch-calling device saves catchers from having to frequently change up their signs, which is obviously an asset with a guy who throws seven different pitches. The reluctance on Bassitt’s part, however, was that he likes to be in control of the pitches he throws, which makes frequently shaking off his catcher something of a part of his routine.
“The PitchCom is supposed to speed us up, but unfortunately MLB doesn’t let me call the pitches,” he told Thosar. “The catchers have to push the button. I’m really hoping that MLB decides that I can push the button that I want to throw. That’ll speed it up.”
The article adds:
“Those shake offs used to confuse [Mets catcher Tomas] Nido, who thought maybe that meant he was calling a bad game. Nido spoke to starting catcher James McCann about it, who told him that’s normal; it’s just how Bassitt pitches and it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s disagreeing with the pitch Nido is calling. Bassitt also told Nido they’re largely on the same page. So that was a relief to Nido, but he still figured PitchCom could save both him and Bassitt the hassle and speed up the tempo of the game.”
Bassitt eventually relented to using the device, though he hardly gave it a ringing endorsement. “It’s whatever. I’ll keep using it,” he said. Yet one can’t help but wonder if his playoff experience with PitchCom — when it was so overwhelmed by crowd noise that he had to mouth “what pitch?” to Nido — could have changed his tune.
Gabby and Alejandro better be prepared just in case!
When did talks heat up with Bassitt and his camp?
Early on we identified him as a significant potential addition for us, and then as the market took shape the discussions got more in depth over the several weeks prior (to the deal being completed).
Translation: Once the market for the mid-tier guys who didn’t reject qualifying offers went bonkos, we decided it would probably be for the best to trade a little of our draft capital in exchange for getting better terms on a win-now player.
(Please note that I do not think this was the wrong approach!)
What makes you confident that Bassitt will age well?
The things that I mentioned. Just how dynamic he is. It's such a unique profile — someone who is so aggressive, with so many weapons, is not fun to hit against. And his feel and athleticism has been consistent in the game, and we feel that is going to continue to be the case over the course of this contract.
I find it interesting to contrast these comments with the way Eno Sarris explained his positivity toward Bassitt’s aging on the day the news of the deal broke.
There are some similarities between the two statements, for sure. There’s overlap between “aggressive” — meaning aggressive in the zone, aka throws strikes — and “locates his hard stuff really well.” Same goes for “has good stuff” and “so many weapons”/”not fun to hit against.” But what’s interesting to me is that Eno talks about Bassitt as a pitcher who should have the tools to evolve well, while Ross’s comments seem to suggest he won’t necessarily need to.
Of course, Ross and Eno are speaking to different audiences. And there’s probably not much value in a GM saying he expects his new $21-million-per-year starter to have to compensate for the age curve sooner than later. But maybe they do feel like he can be the same guy in year three.
Yeah, I don’t know where I’m exactly going with this either. We’re all just waiting to get to the stuff about the offseason anyway, right? Moving on!
Anything especially attractive to you among Bassitt's many attributes?
The only thing I would add to what I just said is how good we feel about his competitiveness, and what that could mean in a playoff setting.
A number four starter is going to get used in the playoffs, so I don’t think Atkins is laying anything particularly heavy on us with this statement. But it does sort of underline the fact that Bassitt really is kind of a $63 million insurance policy on the $131 million deal they gave to José Berríos last winter, huh?
I mean, I’m glad that they acknowledged that such a policy was necessary. And they needed a stronger number four than whichever of Mitch White and Yusei Kikuchi wasn’t the number five anyway. And injuries are also a thing to be factored in!
But still, it sure would be nice if they didn’t have to keep dumping money into the rotation next winter, wouldn’t it?
How did your defensive improvements play a role in making Bassitt seem a good fit?
He has been very effective over the last several years, and a really dynamic arsenal, [but] the ball does get put in play to some extent. So, certainly Matt Chapman's impact, a Kevin Kiermaier impact, the improvement of players on our very strong core already, played a role in that. But, again, just, I think the most exciting piece of Chris Bassit, that we kept falling back on, is just the elite competitiveness.
The balls-in-play stuff is definitely going to be interesting — and likely a test for Bo Bichette, and the way the Jays’ defence as a whole adapts to the banning of the shift. Bassitt’s a sinker-heavy guy, which means an inordinate amount of ground balls. And, as I noted (via Ben Clemens of FanGraphs) in my piece at the time he was signed, the sweeping slider Bassitt has started throwing in the last couple of years — presumably the slower one — is designed to induce pop-ups.
Having elite defenders at two very important positions will definitely help, as he’s less able than most to bail himself out with swing-and-miss. At least the contact is consistently weak though!
Is that what you and Chapman mostly talked about?
More the teammate. More the teammate, and the person, and the influence, and the impact. And just how, even if — not talking about Chris Bassitt specifically, but players, they do have an influence. Every single one of them have influence in our clubhouse. And we knew, back to Chris Bassitt specifically, would be powerful.
Tangent here, but this reminds me of what I said back on Friday about how I didn’t think Shapiro and Atkins were ever going to make Marcus Stroman the highest paid figure in their clubhouse.
Anyway… on to the good stuff!
On the offseason
How do you feel about the state of your rotation?
Feel really good about it. Feel like it's top 10, for sure. You could argue top five — we think it is. And feel good about some of the opportunities that will be created for others in our system. But an incredible starting point from a starting pitching standpoint, with a lot of excitement around bounce back with José Berríos. Obviously an incredible year by Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman. And now to add Chris Bassitt to that is a great addition.
We'll continue to think about ways to improve it, but feel like we're in a very, very strong position.
It’s a good rotation! Especially on paper, and especially if Berríos bounces back. There’s no denying it.
What jumps out the most about this comment, however, is the absence of the names White or Kikuchi — and the aside about how Atkins feels “good about some of the opportunities that will be created for others in our system.”
I’m not entirely sure what that’s supposed to mean. My heart wants it to mean that maybe there’s a chance we see someone like Yosver Zulueta, Ricky Tiedemann, or Sem Robberse break into the rotation at some point — even though I know full well that’s going to be tough because they simply have yet to build up to the point where they can carry that kind of a workload. My head tells me it’s likely more about a guy like Nate Pearson, or even Kikuchi eventually, getting a chance to really focus on being the best reliever he can possibly be.
There could also be an element of gamesmanship going on here, too. Reportedly, the Jays and Cardinals were unable to link up on a Danny Jansen trade because St. Louis was insistent on closer Ryan Helsley being the centrepiece. Perhaps the more adamant the Jays are that they don’t need one more starting pitcher, the less likely it is that teams trying to pry a catcher loose get serious about offering the kind of bat they want.
On the other hand…
How do you feel about your number five starter situation as it stands today?
Really good starting point to have. We're excited about the bounce back in Kikuchi as well, and having Mitch White on board, and then having some prospects that are exciting and up-and-coming is a good starting point.
Getting my Free Ricky Tiedemann t-shirts ready for sale as we speak.
Do you think the levels of spending we've seen this winter will be the new normal going forward?
Every year is different. Obviously this year, there's certainly been a tick up in terms of dollars spent for contribution, and that's exciting for the game. To me that means that there's positive momentum in so many places. I love seeing it, I love seeing players be celebrated, be compensated exceptionally well. It's by far the hardest thing to do in this industry, is play. So when that happens for players I see it as nothing but positive.
Having said that, there's always ebbing and flowing to markets. And how that impacts cost moving forward, how that impacts compensation moving forward, we'll see.
What areas of the roster are now you targeting for improvement?
Most of our focus has been on run prevention, as we've thought about how we can do a better job. In many ways we feel like we've improved, with the addition of Swanson, the addition of Chris Bassitt, the addition of Kevin Kiermaier, on the run prevention side. And now we'll shift to offensive improvements, and where those opportunities present themselves, and continue to think about raising our ceiling in that area.
Again, incredible starting point. We entered the offseason as, if not the strongest team, certainly one of them. And now building upon that, we feel like we're in a good position.
Not sure I would agree that the team that entered the winter with all of two starters that weren’t giant disappointments in 2022 on their roster was “if not the strongest team, certainly one of them,” but I digress.
Shifting to offensive improvements definitely makes sense, obviously.
Atkins addressed this a slightly different way in response to slightly different question…
Are you set now in terms of run prevention, and will your priorities now shift to run creation?
I think the most realistic outcomes moving forward, and where our focus is at this point, is focussing on run creation, certainly, as a next layer of improvement. But certainly not closed off to adding to our bullpen and raising that ceiling. Feel like we have one of the best bullpens in baseball at this point. Certainly with the depth that we have, it's top five in our view. But we'll look to raise the ceiling on both of those fronts in parallel.
Interesting that the rotation is omitted here, though again I don’t want to read too heavily into that. But good that the bullpen isn’t! I agree with Joe…
Anyway, we’re almost at the good stuff…
Are there any specific positions where you're looking to add offensively?
I think the easiest way is just think about a offensive, ideally left-handed, complement to our team. And the easiest way to probably think about playing time is in the outfield at this point.
Well this is perfect, because there are a ton of free agents out there who fit this profile like a glove. Brandon Nimmo, Cody Bellinger, Masataka Yoshida, Michael Brantley, Joey Gallo, Andrew Benintendi…
Oh. Right.
The only names really left among lefty-hitting free agent outfielders are Michael Conforto and, if you squint hard enough, Jurickson Profar. The Jays love versatility, so maybe Profar is their target. But Conforto’s name is one that has come up for quite some time now, stretching back to last winter or maybe longer — to the point where I’m not sure I really need to go over the case for and against him.
To be brief: He missed all of 2022 due to shoulder surgery, had a rare down year as he entered free agency in 2021, but over the four previous seasons, from 2017 through 2020, he slashed .265/.369/.495 (133 wRC+) while playing above average corner outfield defence according to both DRS and OAA.
How much of that is going to still be there in 2023 is anybody's guess, but with the way the Jays have raised the floor in their outfield post-Teoscar trade, maybe they're in safe enough hands to find out. It could be another Marcus Semien situation for them. Or it could... you know... not.
I like the idea well enough, though. And I don't particularly understand getting too antsy about other names dropping off the list.
For one, at least as I'm typing this, Profar remains an interesting alternative. And, as I've written earlier this winter, it's important to remember that the more names come off the board, the fewer suitors remain for what's left.
For two, Conforto is a Boras client, and there are plenty of examples of Boras slow-playing the market. If the Jays think they can beat whatever other offers are out there without accepting Boras's terms right now, why not keep on waiting? Especially since, as we'll get to below, they likely have a strong measure of control over the catching market.
For three, I don't necessarily think Conforto is the perfect move for them here anyway. Kevin Kiermaier is only signed for one more year, and there doesn't appear to be an heir apparent close to the big leagues in the system. There's no harm in putting a CF-calibre defender in a corner for a season, and if they can land a strong hitter who can solve that problem beyond the expiration of Kiermaier's deal, that would seem to me to be some very good business.
I'm not sure that guy is out there — *COUGH* Daulton Varsho *COUGH* — but the list of those guys might, at this point, be longer than what remains in free agency.
How has the market for catching trades evolved of late?
We feel like we have an incredible position of strength in our catching, and we are 100% comfortable remaining in that position of strength — which would mean we're not subtracting from it. We've talked a lot about Moreno's versatility, having depth in that particular position and how valuable that is. But the market for catching remains exceptionally strong. We have a very good sense for it because of us having depth there. And it feels like we're in a position of strength.
It’s been a bit of a frustrating ride for fans, but it wouldn’t shock me if this was the sort of position the Jays wanted to be in with respect to the catching market all along. There appear to be more teams looking for a catcher than there are viable starters out there to be had, and Atkins here appears to be acknowledging it.
Sure, he postures like the team could go into next year without moving a backstop, but given the rumblings around Danny Jansen that we’ve already heard, and the boon to the roster it would be to trade from their catching surplus, it’s hard to take that too seriously. I don’t want to get too optimistic here, because small trades are hard to make, let alone big ones, but he’s not wrong about the position he finds himself in. At least as long as the list of catching-interested teams we’ve been hearing about all winter is accurate.
Fans are quick to groan when the team doesn’t appear to be moving fast enough in certain areas, but the Jays right now might just have the luxury of waiting for the right deal to come to them — and believing that it will.
Do you have room to add a lot to payroll still, or will coming moves be more minor in nature?
Well, we have the room to grow, for sure. But we're not thinking about anything as minor. So, anything we can do at this point, when you are 90 to projected above — 90-plus win team — the value of improving your team at that point is so significant that we will work hard to do that. But at the same time — we're not limited financially to do that and when we think about how we're using resources, we're just always thinking about everything being sustainable and it making sense from a business and baseball standpoint.
Saying that the team still has the flexibility to add dollars is pretty great here, but even better might be the acknowledgement of just how valuable adding one, two, three extra wins is when you’re at the spot on the win curve where the Jays are. Both the need to add, and the impetus, are less when whether or not you make the playoffs is essentially a coin flip. The fact that Aktins knows this, and is saying this, makes me feel it’s tremendously unlikely that their offseason work is done yet.
Clearly!
And yet I know there’s that voice in the back of a lot of fans’ heads telling them that maybe it is.
I can’t blame anyone for thinking it. But a whole, whole lot of signs are pointing in the other direction right now. And, especially after the things he’s said here, Atkins would have a lot to answer for if the rest of the winter was quiet. Objectively, it’s very difficult to believe that more moves aren’t coming.
How challenging will it be to add more offence and get everyone enough at-bats?
I'm really excited about John Schneider's ability to manage that. Also really excited about the mindset of our players. They're entirely focussed on winning, they understand what comes with that is having depth, and then what comes with that is oftentimes being open-minded about usage, about where they're playing, and how players are being deployed differently. John Schneider's done an incredible job on communicating with our players on that front, and our players have had great feedback.
I am also excited to see which players Schneider will have to fit into the lineup. Let’s do this!
Kiermaier indicated last week that he expects he'll play in centre "pretty much every day." How does that affect George Springer?
From the start we've talked a lot about run prevention. I think over the course of Kevin's career, when he's played as many as 120 games he's been the best defender in the game, and arguably one of the best defenders of all time. So, that was a very exciting addition to us. It's not just limited to defence. His offensive impact, with an incredible impact from a baserunning perspective, will be significant as well. Exactly what I just said about winning teams, and our players embracing that, I think Kevin understands what comes with a winning environment. George certainly understands what comes with a winning environment. Sometimes it means, whether it's a different position, or trading positions, or sharing position, that's one way to keep depth. Both are open-minded to it. George has been absolutely on board with that, as he's demonstrated in the past — in the past year with us we saw a lot of that shifting of playing time.
I can’t imagine the “how would you like to no longer have to lay out on the carpet-covered concrete quite so much?” conversation with Springer would have gone poorly. But — not to whiplash too severely back into negativity here for a second — let’s go back to some of that Kiermaier stuff…
Like, I don’t think Ross is wrong to suggest that, when healthy, Kiermaier has been somewhere near as great a defender as has ever played the sport, or that his baserunning is definitely an overlooked component of his offensive output, but you kinda want the all-time great defender before he’s 33 years old and coming off hip surgery. You want the all-time great defender who you don’t have to use the qualifier “when he’s played as many as 120 games” about — especially when he’s only done that twice since 2015!
Don’t you?
Anyway, I’m sure it will definitely be fine, and that adding Michael Conforto coming off a full year away and using 34-year-old Whit Merrifield as outfield cover will have zero adverse consequences.
More likely to add offence through one player, or could it be a combination of players added?
I think with where we are right now, with our excitement around having added to our team last year in Whit Merrifield. Having Cavan Biggio, who doesn't get talked about enough. He is going to be HUGE for us this year in his versatility. Had some great interactions with him recently. So the most likely scenario of addition would be in the form of one player, because of the versatility that we already have.
The all-caps there are mine, but there definitely was a noticeable inflection when Ross said “huge.”
If I didn’t feel like such an imposter on these Zoom calls I’d have asked Ross about the shift ban and how it has affected the way they’ve approached the offseason, because… uh… I wonder how Ross feels about the shift ban and how it’s affected the way they’ve approached the offseason. I mean, what else could explain this big vote of confidence in Cavan Biggio?
Anyway, the "in the form of one player" thing definitely makes sense, especially given the love for Biggio here.
Because teams are limited to carrying 13 pitchers, the most likely scenario coming out of spring training is that the Jays will also have 13 position players. All but one of those spots looks to be accounted for.
Roster Resource has their projected lineup against right-handed pitchers as: Springer (RF), Bichette (SS), Guerrero Jr. (1B), Kirk (C), Chapman (3B), Jansen (DH), Gurriel (LF), Merrifield (2B), and Kiermaier (CF).
Quibble with the order and the handedness and postions if you must, but those guys all have jobs. On the bench they have Biggio, Santiago Espinal, and a couple of placeholders.
For the moment those placeholders are Spencer Horwitz and Nathan Lukes. I suspect by the time opening day rolls around, as long as everyone is healthy, one will be a catcher — Gabriel Moreno if they don't trade anyone, a veteran number three if they do — and the other will be whichever lefty outfielder they find.
They could make it work adding two, because they certainly don't need to carry a third catcher, but this would be my guess.
OK, last one…
Is one of free agency or the trade market more promising than the other at this point?
I don't think many teams can say that it could come from either, at this point. And we can say that easily — that it can come from either avenue. With a lot of our work already done, not having traded prospect capital, having areas of depth that we can trade from, and still having financial flexibility, is a good position to be in.
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FWIW, MLB will be experimenting with a Pitcher-side Pitchcom remote during spring training, so Bassitt may be able to call his own pitches in the near future!
Let’s be negative about our outfield for a moment:
Springer - injury prone
Kiermeier - injury prone
Gurriel - a little injury prone
Someone else must be coming.