Fans of the New York Mets didn’t have long to cry over losing out on Kyle Tucker.
The Mets locked in the best-available infielder on the free agent market by signing Bo Bichette to a reported three-year, $126 million contract, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The Mets, of course, were in the mix for Tucker but lost him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. LA signed Tucker to a reported four-year, $240 million contract Thursday.
Yet they quickly pivoted, and according to Passan, the deal is pending Bichette passing a physical. The two-time All-Star shortstop, who will turn 27 on March 5, slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs in 139 games for the Toronto Blue Jays yet missed the final month of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs due to a PCL sprain in his knee.
Bichette, whose father Dante Bichette spent 14 MLB seasons playing mainly for the Colorado Rockies, spent seven years with the Blue Jays and posted an .806 OPS with 111 home runs and 438 runs scored in 748 games.
The Mets Signed Bo Bichette To Play Third Base
Bichette has essentially played shortstop throughout his entire MLB career but has reportedly expressed a willingness to come off the most important infield position in his pitch to other clubs.
That’s good news, because the Mets have a shortstop, and a superstar one at that in Francisco Lindor. Plus, they traded one of their homegrown players, Brandon Nimmo, to acquire slugging second baseman Marcus Semien from the Texas Rangers — a move that made Jeff McNeill expendable.
But the Mets’ needed to replace Pete Alonso after he signed with the Baltimore Orioles and had a hole to fill at third base. So according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Bichette was signed to remain on the left side of the infield and fill the hot corner for at least 2026.
Heyman reported Bichette will have two opt outs, and none of his money is deferred. But he explained why locking in another right-handed hitter — along with Semien — will complement the switch-hitting Lindor and left-handed slugger Juan Soto.
“42 Million Dollars non-deferred is a big number,” Heyman shared on X (formerly Twitter).” But Mets saw the Bichette opportunity this way: 1) Rare to get premium player on short term deal 2) [Right-hand hitting] continues balancing lineup.”
Bo Bichette Is A Big-Market, Big-Game Player
The Mets needed to fill Alonso’s spot, both from a lineup standpoint but also from a clutch-player perspective. Alonso boasted a 1.003 OPS in the playoffs in his career and memorably pulled the Mets off the deck with a crucial home run in the ninth inning of Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series off then-Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams.
But Bichette proved he can come through in a big market in the postseason this October. He had a huge World Series for Toronto, despite being clearly neutralized by that knee injury.
Bichette recorded eight hits in 23 World Series at-bats (.348) and had a massive and memorable three-run home run off Shohei Ohtani that put Toronto in front in Game 7.
The Jays, of course, did not hang on to win the World Series, but Bichette finished with a .923 OPS and 11 total bases in the series — and may have been MVP if the Blue Jays had won the title.
The Mets could use more of that, since they have dreams of getting past the Dodgers and winning the World Series for the first time since 1986.
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