The Phillies Need to Steal This Fee Agent Away From the Mets

The Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets rivalry has been going on since the two rivals first met at Polo Grounds back in 1962. While the NL East foes have collided in over 1,000 regular-season meetings since then, the rivalry has extended into the offseason, stealing players from each other over the years, such as Pedro Martinez and Zack Wheeler.

With several notable Mets players hitting the open market, the Phillies must steal one of those free agents. Doing so not only improves Philadelphia's chances of 2023 success, but it'll also hurt New York's odds to win the NL East next year.

Philadelphia Phillies Free Agency

The Phillies must do what they can to steal Chris Bassitt away from the Mets. The veteran starting pitcher is exactly what Philadelphia needs now that Noah Syndergaard, Kyle Gibson and Zach Eflin are free to sign elsewhere.

Bassitt enters the offseason after another productive year in New York. Though he didn't finish top 10 in Cy Young voting like he did in 2019 and 2020, he still set a career-high with 15 wins in 30 starts, pitching to a 3.42 ERA and 1.145 WHIP while tallying 8.3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Bassitt could also be drawn to the Phillies due to Citizens Bank Park. It's a small sample size, but the 33-year-old is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two career starts (11.2 innings pitched) in Philadelphia, allowing just one home run in those games.

Something that improves the Phillies' chances of signing Bassitt is that he recently rejected the Mets' $19.65 million qualifying offer. The latest reports have him looking for some length on his next contract and with the Phillies' championship window being open over the next few years, signing in the City of Brotherly Love could look quite appealing.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.