Chris Bassitt is staying in the AL East.
The Baltimore Orioles agreed to an $18.5 million, one-year contract with the right-hander Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement was pending a physical. The deal includes a $3 million signing bonus, and Bassitt can earn $500,000 in performance bonuses if he starts at least 27 games.
Bassitt, who turns 37 on Feb. 22, has reached that number of starts each of the last five seasons.
ESPN was the first to report on the contract.
Bassitt went 11-9 with a 3.96 ERA for AL champion Toronto last year. He has pitched at least 157 1/3 innings in each of the past five seasons, and only once in the last eight seasons has he posted an ERA above 4.00.
Bassitt joins a Baltimore rotation that includes Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers and Zach Eflin. Baz was acquired in a December trade with Tampa Bay, and Eflin re-signed with the Orioles for a $10 million, one-year contract.
After two straight years in the playoffs, Baltimore finished last in the AL East with a 75-87 record in 2025. It made a big splash in free agency when it signed first baseman Pete Alonso to a $155 million, five-year contract in December.
But the Orioles could use an improved rotation after last year's starters ranked 24th in the major leagues with a 4.65 ERA. Team president Mike Elias said in November the team was trying to find "whether it’s ‘top’ or ‘front’ or ‘top half’ of the rotation, all those buckets.”
That was after Baltimore traded right-hander Grayson Rodriguez in a deal for outfielder Taylor Ward — and before the Orioles landed Alonso. Since then, they have added Baz and brought back Eflin.
Still, after Ranger Suárez (Boston) and Dylan Cease (Toronto) signed elsewhere in the division, and with Framber Valdez now in Detroit, not much seems to have changed in how Baltimore is approaching its rotation. The Orioles haven't made any long, big-dollar commitments to their starters, instead adding to the rotation via one-year deals or trades.
Before last season, Baltimore signed Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Kyle Gibson to one-year deals, and the aggregate result from those three was quite disappointing.
Bassitt arrives with a better recent track record than Gibson had, and he's a good deal younger than Morton was. The Orioles can also hope for better health from Kyle Bradish, who made six starts last year, and a full season from Rogers, who went 9-3 with a 1.91 ERA over 18 starts in 2025.
The Orioles hold their first full-squad workout of spring training on Monday.
AP Baseball Writer Jay Cohen contributed to this report.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
FILE - Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the seventh inning in Game 4 of baseball's World Series, Oct. 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Kyle Busch won the pole for NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 to give the driver with the longest active losing streak in “The Great American Race” a shot at the victory that has escaped him his entire career.
Busch is 0 for 20 in the Daytona 500 and hasn't started in the top five since 2016, when he still drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. He started fourth and finished third that year, then was a career-best second to then-teammate Denny Hamlin in 2019.
“Sounds really good right now — being able to qualify on my first pole for the Daytona 500, that’s pretty special," said Busch, who wore custom-designed Olympic-themed racing shoes at Daytona International Speedway.
He earned the pole Wednesday night with a lap at 183.925 mph in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, the team that signed him before the 2023 season when his contract was up with Gibbs and his salary was too high for most teams.
But his time in the No. 8 has been rocky for the two-time NASCAR champion. He's won three races since joining RCR — all in his first season — and takes a 93-race losing streak into the Daytona 500.
His pole runs continues a strong few weeks for Busch and his family: Older brother, Kurt, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last month.
“Feels really good for RCR as a group,” Busch said. “Just a valiant effort by everybody here. It would be really nice to be doing an interview like this about being No. 1 come Sunday night.”
RCR last put a car on the pole for the Daytona 500 in 2014 when Austin Dillon, grandson of owner Richard Childress Racing, qualified first. Dillon won the race in 2018.
Chase Briscoe, last year's pole-sitter, qualified second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Although 37 drivers were locked into the race ahead of time trials, the starting order is not determined until after a pair of Thursday night qualifying races. Of those locked in, 36 drive chartered cars that guarantee a spot in every race. An additional slot went to seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson under a provisional rule that allows for a 41st “world-class driver” trying to enter a Cup event.
Johnson is a two-time Daytona 500 winner and finished third last year. He left full-time NASCAR racing after the 2020 season.
There were two spots open for those not already locked in and they were claimed by Corey Heim for 23XI Racing and Justin Allgaier for JR Motorsports. They were the fastest cars in time trials.
Heim, last year's Truck Series champion, will be making his Daytona 500 debut.
“Kind of nerve-wracking for sure,” said the 23-year-old from Georgia. “So impressed and thank you for 23XI Racing and Toyota, coming here with an open car and a fourth team at 23XI, to be able to do that is pretty impressive even from my eyes. I feel like that’s a very big accomplishment from those guys. Just blessed to be a part of the team.”
Allgaier is in for the fourth time in his career and the second consecutive year while driving for two-time race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“It's such a great sport to be part of it and it's awesome to be able to come down here and try to make your way in,” Earnhardt said. “It is stressful, but that's the best part about it.”
There are two remaining open spots in the field that will be decided Thursday night via a pair of 150-mile qualifying races. The highest finisher in each race among the drivers not qualified will earn a berth in the Daytona 500.
Those still trying to get in the race are: Anthony Alfredo, Corey LaJoie, BJ McLeod, Casey Mears, Chandler Smith and J.J. Yeley. Only two will race Sunday.
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Corey Heim speaks during a NASCAR Daytona 500 media day, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Daytona, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Chase Briscoe steers through Turn 2 during NASCAR's The Clash preseason auto race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, in Winston-Salem, N.C. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
