Bo Go?

[Edgy MD]

Bob Nightengale, who is generally nobody's fool, recently wrote that MLB teams still expect Bo Bichette to opt out of his contract at the end of the season.

It's really little more than a filler story, but again, Nightengale doesn't tend to pull stuff out of his ass.  Bichette, took a VERY big average annual salary in exchange for shorter years than the Phils were offering him.  The headline suggests that this would be "bad news" for the Mets but editors write those, and I imagine not a lot of Met-fan folks are seeing the notion that way on June 14.

I imagine Bichette has a better rest of the year ahead of him than what is behind him.  Still, getting $40 million cut from the payroll by letting a guy with backup-shortstop batting numbers walk has to look like the least of the Mets problems right now.

[Centerfield]

I would guess Bichette opts out. He leaves a $5MM opt out bonus on the table if he doesn’t. He’ll also be a year older, and though still very young, he won’t be able to sign that long term deal for much longer. Plus if he has a second down year, that ship will have sailed. 
 

But the biggest reason I believe he’s gone is that they will be no hitter available this offseason. I think he will greatly benefit from a bad market. 

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

I think the team went into this signing knowing, if not expecting, this to be the case. Him opting out also doesn't prevent the Mets from signing him, maybe for a longer deal but with less money each year.

Or, they can put that $40 million toward Tarik Skubal. 

We don't know what the collective bargaining agreement will lead to, either. He could be taking a pretty big gamble by opting out. 

 

[Brock Beauchamp]

It's a good thing for the Mets if Bichette opts out. I didn't like the contract at the time and I certainly don't like it now.

[metirish]

I really hope he does opt out and likely the moment he signed that was the plan, I feel no connection to him at all 

[Cowtipper]

He feels like a rental, so him opting out doesn't matter one way or the other. He doesn't feel like a Met, just another face. 

[Benjamin Grimm]

I agree with that, both for Bichette and Peralta. Of course, both may end up somehow being long-term Mets, but they both seemed like full-year rentals for the glory of 2026. 

Stearns appears to be a guy who likes to make substantial roster changes each season. That hasn't helped the Mets win, and it doesn't help with fan engagement. If this keeps up they may very well lose me.

[The Hot Corner]

It seems that the Mets went into this deal with the thought that it would be a 1 years rental.  Why else would you offer a $5 mil. bonus to opt out after year one?  If your truly wanted him to stay you would offer a $5 mil. bonus not to opt out.  I think this was a quick, emergency, safe facing move once the Mets (Stearns) missed on Kyle Tucker.

I liked landing Bichette, but I didn't like the terms the Mets gave to land him.  Smelled of desperation.

 

[Benjamin Grimm]

Wanting him to opt out would imply that they had a plan in mind for their 2027 third baseman. Maybe they do, but I'm not sure who that would have been. They hadn't traded Jett Williams yet, but they most likely had already decided that they were willing to do so. Maybe they were thinking Baty or Vientos? I'm dubious about that. But if not them, who else?

[Edgy MD]

Would some combination of Baty and Vientos and Mauricio and whoever be so much worse than Bichette?

They haven't been this year, despite having generally very little to show for themselves.

Baty plus Vientos plus Mauricio plus $40 million dollars over Bichette?  That's a choice I make very time.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Geez, I forgot all about Mauricio! I agree that I'd rather go with Baty/Vientos/Mauricio and save $40 million.

[ashie62]

Don't they almost all opt out?

I'd like to save the money to use on better options that may not include those on the rostee

[Cowtipper]

Who in their right mind would opt-in to this team?

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

18 minutes ago, Cowtipper said:

Who in their right mind would opt-in to this team?

I would, because the team you are seeing today is not what is going to be here next year. All the injuries and under performance will all be better -- plus an owner that you know is spending and trying to win. It's a good team that is playing like crap for a variety of reasons. That's much better than being on a team that isn't even trying. 

[Cowtipper]

It's always next year. Why do we always have to look forward to next year. What about this year. It's always next year. That's basically been the line since, what, 1987?

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Did you miss 1999, 2000, 2006, 2015, 2016, 2022 and 2024? All great years that fell short but still great. 

[Cowtipper]

No, I didn't miss them. But the consistent mantra in my lifetime has been "next year." Singular examples don't undo the overarching whole. 1999, when I got into baseball, was 27 years ago now. The Mets are of the biggest teams in one of the biggest markets with one of the biggest fan bases, yet we have only 6 examples (I'm not counting 2016 because I see it as a dud) of anything meaningful. Six examples in 27 years. Meanwhile, equally big-market teams, the Yankees and Dodgers, have been to the playoffs 22 times and 17 times in that span, respectively. This team isn't the endearing club of 1962 anymore. It's been around 65 years. It's in a huge market. They should have learned by now some method for consistent winning. Instead, nine times out of 10, it's "til next year." The relying on the cutesie-endearing Marv Throneberry-type stuff to get us by has gotten old.. We have no excuse to be so consistently mediocre anymore. And I think a big reason a lot of stars do so poorly when the come to the Mets, like Bo Bichette, is because psychologically and subconsciously they know that no matter how much they do, no matter how much they try, more than likely it is going to be an overwhelmingly mediocre club in the long run -- and that does weigh on them. 

[Gwreck]

17 hours ago, Edgy MD said:

Baty plus Vientos plus Mauricio plus $40 million dollars over Bichette?  That's a choice I make very time.

It all depends on what you do with the $40 million.  Neither Baty nor Vientos nor Mauricio has shown that they should be a regular in the lineup.

[Edgy MD]

14 minutes ago, Gwreck said:

It all depends on what you do with the $40 million.

Well, if I don't trust myself with $40 million, I don't get involved in the first place.

Baty on his own, while having a very bad season, has out-performed Bichette.

[Gwreck]

Baty has a .615 OPS (OPS+ of 74) while Bichette has a .662 OPS (OPS+ of 86).  I don’t see that as outperformance.

Maybe when factoring in the defense it becomes a little closer but it’s hardly clear.  (And that’s even before considering that Bichette’s positional deployment is suboptimal because the team has no other option at short). 

—-

I am surprised to hear that Bichette would opt out.  Even factoring in the $5M opt-out bonus, would he get >$79M over the next two years on the open market?  I am dubious.  This sure seems like a situation in which Bichette is better suited to exercising his option for 2027 with an eye towards FA after that year (he has the opt-out after each year).

[MFS62]

I think that included in that mix of possible third basemen to replace Bo was prospect Jacob Reimer(a truer third baseman than Williams).  But he seems to have hit a wall this year.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Forty million dollars.

For that money, I could clone Robin Yount.

[Centerfield]

There are no hitters in this upcoming class. Bichette would benefit from no competition. 

[Gwreck]

7 hours ago, Edgy MD said:

Forty million dollars.

For that money, I could clone Robin Yount.

Not a chance.

You could probably sign Brandon Lowe to a decent contract though.

[Frayed Knot]

Mostly good news on recent Bo, June stats: .362/.361/.638 // 999

That's zero walks for the month but two Sac Flies. His 'walk rate' (OBA - BA) for both this season as a whole [.045] is right about in line with his career norm [.043].  That's low, around 60-some pct of league average, but not putrid, so I think we can write off the zero June walks as more a product of a small sample size.

[Frayed Knot]

And in what might be the most 2026 NYM stat ever, behind Bo's hot (half) month of June has been a more than decent month by Soto [.297/.367/.400] hitting right behind Bichette. But if it seems to you that they rarely have synched-up together then you're not wrong. Not once in 14 June games has Soto driven in Bichette.

[Edgy MD]

2 hours ago, Frayed Knot said:

That's low, around 60-some pct of league average, but not putrid, so I think we can write off the zero June walks as more a product of a small sample size.

Maybe, but man, does he like to chase up by his eyeballs.

[Frayed Knot]

To the tune of a .290 lifetime batting average (.294 prior to this season).

btw, he's now 15 for his last 30 over a seven game span with a .210 BA on 5/17 turning into a .254 BA on 6/17

[Frayed Knot]

And in keeping with my earlier post about Bichette and Soto rarely having good games simultaneously, tonight Soto has 2 HRs plus a walk ... but only 2 RBIs in part because Bichette, despite how how he's been recently, has three weak outs in three ABs so far.

[Edgy MD]

Ideally, Bichette turns his hot streak into a torrid second half, upping his value for a long-term deal, exercises his escape clause, gets passionately pursued by the Phils again, spurns them at the last second again, signs with the Braves for eight years, and plays rancidly for the duration of that contract.

That's the best scenario, right?