The New York Mets, in a quick pivot after failing to sign Kyle Tucker, have agreed to a three-year, $126 million contract with infielder Bo Bichette, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.
The deal, which is pending a physical, includes opt-outs after the first and second seasons. It does not include any deferred money, making it a straight contract with an average annual value of $42 million.
The agreement with Bichette, one of the top free agents on the market, was sealed about 12 hours after Tucker chose to sign a four-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers over a four-year, $220 million offer from the Mets — a decision that spawned more anger within a fan base still coming to terms with New York’s four longest-tenured players going to other teams this offseason.
This time, the Mets beat out the competition, led by the Philadelphia Phillies, for Bichette’s services with a short-term deal that could end up becoming just a one-year partnership. With Bichette onboard, the Mets have surpassed the top competitive balance tax threshold of $304 million with a projected payroll of $345.7 million, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
The pressure was on owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns to add premier talent to a lineup suddenly without Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz and Jeff McNeil. Adding a top-tier talent wherever possible was the driver in the Mets’ pursuit of both Tucker and Bichette because neither is a clean fit.
Though Stearns has focused on the Mets’ need to improve their “run prevention” — modern baseball vernacular for pitching and defense — this winter, Tucker graded as a below-average defender last season and would have moved to left field, a position he hasn’t played since 2020, had he chosen the Mets.
Bichette, meanwhile, was one of the worst shortstops in baseball last season. He is slated to play third base in New York — a position he has never played at any level as a professional — across the diamond from Jorge Polanco, who signed in December to play first base for the first time in his career.
Ultimately, the Mets acquired Bichette, who turns 28 in March, for his bat. When healthy, he is an offensive force with a strong ability to make contact that produced a .294/.337/.469 slash line in his seven seasons as the Toronto Blue Jays‘ shortstop. He has batted .290 or better in six of his seven seasons, led the American League in hits twice and been named an All-Star twice.
Last season, he rebounded from a dreadful, injury-plagued 2024 campaign to hit .311 with 18 home runs and an .840 OPS in 139 games as Toronto catapulted from worst to first place in the American League East. He returned from a late-season ankle injury to bat .348 with a .923 OPS in the World Series while playing second base for the first time in his major league career and hit a go-ahead three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani in Game 7 before the Blue Jays lost in extra innings.
Bichette was tendered a $22.025 million qualifying offer by the Blue Jays, which he declined. Because he is signing with a new team, Toronto will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round.
With the Mets, Bichette projects to slot into the 3-hole in the batting order behind Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, giving Soto the elite right-handed lineup protection he lost with Alonso’s departure. Brett Baty, who had been projected to start at third base, could slide into a utility role if he is not used in a trade to address the Mets’ need for an outfielder or starting pitcher.
The Athletic first reported on the Mets’ agreement with Bichette.
