The New York Mets did not sit around long and lick their wounds from losing out on Kyle Tucker, as they signed Bo Bichette to a three-year, $126 million deal on Friday.
With it, the Mets land one of the best remaining available bats on the free-agent market. Bichette, 27, batted .311 with an .840 OPS, 18 home runs, and 94 RBI in 139 games in 2025, which was interrupted down the stretch by a knee injury that kept him out until the World Series.
Upon his return, he nearly had one of the more indelible moments in Toronto Blue Jays franchise history when he hit a three-run home run in Game 7 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the AL East club fell just short of a third-ever world championship.
It was the Dodgers that forced the Mets to resort to a different avenue and go all-out for Bichette. They signed star outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal late Thursday night, which eclipsed New York’s mega-offer of $220 million for four years.
Per multiple reports, Bichette will play third base in New York. A natural shortstop, poor defense and that knee injury made it a formality that he would have to move from the position, anyway. Plus, the Mets have Francisco Lindor at that spot for the foreseeable future.
The Blue Jays used him as a second baseman during the Fall Classic, but the Mets brought in Marcus Semien’s elite glove in the Brandon Nimmo trade to play there.
It leaves former top prospect Brett Baty’s future in New York uncertain. His name has cropped up in trade talks this winter as president of baseball operations David Stearns looks to improve the starting rotation. That still might be the move he is looking to make, or he would transition the 26-year-old to a different position — perhaps a super utility option like Jeff McNeil, who was traded to the Athletics last month, was.
