{"id":747423,"date":"2026-06-19T14:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/747423\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T14:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T14:40:10","slug":"mets-bo-bichette-sends-blue-jays-message-after-contract-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/747423\/","title":{"rendered":"Mets\u2019 Bo Bichette Sends Blue Jays Message After Contract Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pittsburgh<\/p>\n

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 29: Bo Bichette #19 of the New York Mets look on during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on March 29, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

The New York Mets have spent much of the 2026 season trying to justify one of the winter\u2019s biggest free-agent investments, and this week\u2019s series against the Philadelphia Phillies offered another reminder of how differently the offseason could have unfolded.<\/p>\n

Bo Bichette ultimately chose the Mets over Philadelphia after leaving the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency, but some comments he made ahead of the series opener on Thursday suggested that a link to his former team nearly convinced him to choose the Phillies.<\/p>\n

ForbesBlue Jays\u2019 Future Hall Of Famer Offers 4-Word Response On Future After Injury SetbackBy Peter Chawaga<\/a>Bo Bichette Sends Toronto Blue Jays Message On Choosing New York Mets <\/p>\n

Once he arrived at Citizens Bank Park for the first series between the rivals of the season, he was almost immediately asked about a high-profile offseason saga between himself, the Phillies and the Mets.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Bichette) picked the three-year\/$126 million deal with opt outs after each season from the Mets over a reported seven-year\/$200 million offer with the Phillies,\u201d Tim Kelly recalled for On Pattison<\/a>. \u201cIn the end, the Mets were spurned by Kyle Tucker, who chose to take a four-year\/$240 million deal that included a player opt out after the 2027 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. So Mets owner Steve Cohen pivoted, offering Bichette a deal he couldn\u2019t refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked how close he came to choosing the Phillies over the Mets, he acknowledged that those negotiations had taken place, though he was clear that he never believed a deal with the Phillies was at the finish line.<\/p>\n

“I thought it was an opportunity, for sure,\u201d Bichette said on Thursday, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer\u2019s Scott Lauber<\/a>. \u201cBut there was definitely things that needed to be worked out for that to become a possibility. So, no, I didn’t think that (it was agreed to).”<\/p>\n

ForbesGiants\u2019 3-Time World Series Champ Sends Tony Vitello Message, Calls For RebuildBy Peter Chawaga<\/a>New York Mets\u2019 Bo Bichette Sends Toronto Blue Jays Coach Message When Discussing Contract Decision<\/p>\n

But Bichette did say, had those talks gone closer to a signed deal, his old Blue Jays coach would have played a big role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a lot of good talks,\u201d Bichette said of the Phillies. \u201cThat\u2019s a great team over there. Obviously, Donnie being over there was enticing to me. But yeah, great talks, great organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bichette was referring to Don Mattingly, who helped the Blue Jays reach the World Series last year as a key member of the coaching staff, then joined the Phillies for this season and took over as manager when Rob Thomson was fired. <\/p>\n

So far, the team is surging under Mattingly and, had he convinced a star infielder like Bichette to join the team, he\u2019d likely be even more popular with fans than he already is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 29: Bo Bichette #19 of the New York Mets look on during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":747424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[7203,49,48,1502,462,3430,475,267594,82,3302,507],"class_list":["post-747423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-bo-bichette","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mets","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-mets","tag-ny-mets","tag-sports","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-blue-jays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/747423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=747423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=747423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}