Guardians need to avoid using available payroll on this veteran free agent pitcher

We’re at a point in the MLB offseason where things have slowed to a trickle. 

While most of the big names have already found a new home for 2026, there are still plenty of B and C-tier free agents still lingering on the market — one of whom is starting pitcher Chris Bassitt. 

Although Bassitt is coming off a productive season with a Blue Jays team that came two outs away from winning the World Series, there hasn’t been much buzz around him this winter. But that changed earlier this week when Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer published a story hypothesizing about “surprise” landing spots for seven MLB free agents, where he had Bassitt going to the Guardians. 

A surprise, indeed. 

At face value, a Bassitt signing wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world considering he finished last season with a 3.96 ERA in 170 1/3 innings in the regular season before throwing 8 2/3 strong innings out of the bullpen in the postseason. 

Even if he isn’t the same kind of pitcher he was when he was an All-Star with Oakland, he’s still only three years removed from leading the American League in wins and just authored a solid bounce-back season after a disastrous 2024. 

But that doesn’t mean that he would be a good fit for the Guardians. 

The Guardians need to stay away from signing Chris Bassitt 

While there’s an argument that Bassitt would give the Guardians some insurance considering they don’t have a ton of MLB-ready pitching depth behind Parker Messick, Joey Cantillo and Khal Stephen, spending money on Bassitt wouldn’t be the best use of the short-term funds the team freed up by extending José Ramírez. 

Signing Bassitt would raise the ceiling of the Guardians’ rotation, but they’d be better off using that money to sign a free agent hitter like Austin Hays or Luis Arraez who would help raise the lineup’s floor. 

Bassitt also made $22 million in each of the past two seasons with the Blue Jays, so it’s fair to assume that any contract negotiations with him would start at that value. 

Part of Rymer’s logic for linking Bassitt with the Guardians is the lack of faith that he has in Slade Cecconi and Logan Allen at the back of the Guardians’ rotation, as he wrote that Bassitt would bring some stability to the back of the rotation that Cecconi and Allen don’t provide. 

While neither of them project to be aces, they posted ERAs of 4.30 (Cecconi) and 4.25 (Allen) last season and are innings eaters. They’re both still pre-arbitration players, which is a huge bonus for a Guardians franchise that’s always looking to find a way to save money. 

It’s a bit surprising that Bassitt has lingered on the market for as long as he has, but the Guardians shouldn’t be the team to offer him a lifeline for 2026.