Bo Knows Mets

[G-Fafif]

Bichette has happened to the Mets: 3 years/$126 mil, per Will Sammon.

[Benjamin Grimm]

In his career, 31 games at DH and 716 at shortstop. Never played anywhere else in the field. I wonder what the plan is for him?

[G-Fafif]

Third is the word.

Also, two opt-outs.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Okay, so he's probably a one-year Met.

I wonder what Brett Baty is thinking right now.

[Fman99]

**** yes let's go

[Gwreck]

I wonder what Brett Baty is thinking right now.

 

If I’m Stearns, I’m calling up the Tigers and offering Baty/Tong for the one year of Skubal.

[kcmets]

Bo Bo Baby!!!

[metsmarathon]

Well. I did not see that coming.

I’d see if Baty can play 1st. Or, semien.

[metirish]

Okay, so he's probably a one-year Met.

I wonder what Brett Baty is thinking right now.

 

Probably happy to see there are two opt outs

I like this deal , opt outs aside

[Cowtipper]

Great signing. Came up with the same crop as Vlad Jr., Tatis Jr., Soto and Acuna (and Alonso) and was hyped about as much as all of them. Twice a top-10 prospect. Awesome, awesome signing. The Mets now have two of the biggest prospects of the late-2010s.

[Lefty Specialist]

Boy, this is really throwing the deck of cards in the air.

Do you make Baty the left fielder? Whither Vientos? First? DH? Elsewhere?

Bichette's a good player but this really smells like a one-year rental. And he's never played third, so that'll be interesting.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'd love to have him for longer than one year, but if it's just for 2026, then so be it. We'll have a better team with him here, and it's a one-year rental that didn't cost any prospects, so that's really good.

There's still at least one starting pitcher to add. I don't know if they'll sign one or trade for one from their surplus of infielders. I suppose it's possible that Semien never plays for the Mets, but who knows.

[metirish]

The Phillies had agreed to Bo Bichette’s request for a 7-year, $200 million deal last night and believed they would sign him until the Mets swooped in with their 3-year, $126 million offer after losing out in in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes.

Bob Ninghtengale is the source so beware

[ashie62]

Love it!

Maybe Baty goes for Skubal etc

[MFS62]

He provides some needed right handed balance to the lineup.

Good move.

[DocTee]

For all the talk about how much emphasis they would place on defense this year, we are looking at two infielders playing our of position (Polanco at first and Bichette at third) and LF may be handed to Baty.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And hopefully he'd be better than Todd Hundley was.

[MFS62]

And hopefully he'd be better than Todd Hundley was.

 

EEEK! I just had a flashback.

Were all those articles about how they have faith in Baty to be the every day third baseman just ca-ca?

Anyhow, now let's get some pitching.

Later

[smg58]

Bichette is a very good player, with only one bad season that is very clearly an outlier. His salary is somewhat nutty, but Tucker's is extremely nutty. (And the small market teams were just given a whole lot of ammo going in to the next round of bargaining. And Soto is definitely opting out now.)

There's no reason why Bichette can't play third and Polanco can't play first, but it's fair to be concerned that the adjustment period might last beyond spring. Having said that, they've at least broken even overall on the infield corners.

I would argue though that, beyond further dealing, the Nimmo-for-Semien trade looks silly right now.

One way to get the Red Sox to consider trading from their outfield surplus to get an infielder from you is to snatch up the best remaining infielder on the free agent market. That's worth keeping an eye on. You don't need to throw a ton of money at anybody to upgrade centerfield significantly.

I'd still take a look at a righthanded bat for leftfield. Miguel Andujar seems to have regained the bat he had as a rookie and while he still lacks experience in the outfield, he's better suited there than at third base. Plus his presence would take pressure off of Benge to hit lefties right away when he gets the call.

Nobody is mentioning Marcell Ozuna at all, but he played hurt last year and makes all the sense in the world as a DH option.

And I wouldn't complain if they still had room for Framber Valdez.

[DocTee]

It appears the plan is for Baty to be this year's McNeil--a versatile glove who can play reasonably well at multiple positions.

Do we deal from our strengths/redundancies (Vientos, Mauricio) for a Jarred Duran/Lars Nootbaar centerfielder?

[Edgy MD]

I would argue though that, beyond further dealing, the Nimmo-for-Semien trade looks silly right now.

 

I think the McNeil-plus-cash-for-Yordan Rodriguez deal is leaving them even more behind the eight ball, at least on paper.

[Bob Alpacadaca]

What, did the Dodgers not want Bichette, too?

[smg58]

I would argue though that, beyond further dealing, the Nimmo-for-Semien trade looks silly right now.

 

I think the McNeil-plus-cash-for-Yordan Rodriguez deal is leaving them even more behind the eight ball, at least on paper.

 

Fair point.

[Centerfield]

I’m still trying to convince myself that Bo Bichette is good enough to hit behind Soto.

Is he?

[MFS62]

I just heard that he led the league in Ba with RISPlast year. That is what this team needed.

Later

[Gwreck]

I’m still trying to convince myself that Bo Bichette is good enough to hit behind Soto.

Is he?

 

He was good enough to hit behind Vladdy Jr., so…yes?

Of course, I suppose there is an open question about the best way to structure the top of the lineup. One wonders about Soto leadoff with Lindor and Bichette following. Or Bichette leading off with Soto and then Lindor.

[Frayed Knot]

Aside from his injury-riddled and outlier of a season in 2024, Bichette's career OBP is close to .350, so he's clearly a lead-off candidate.

Even Nimmo's OPB wasn't that high since 2023

[Fman99]

He immediately becomes the best right handed hitter in the lineup. And so to me it's foolish to put him anywhere in the lineup that isn't immediately following Juan Soto.

[Edgy MD]

One thing I like is dialing back on the wind machine.

Bo Bichette strikes out at 14.5% rate and Marcus Semien at 17.4%.

Among the guys they moved are Brandon Nimmo at 21.6% and Pete Alonso at 22.8%.

Cody Bellinger, for whatever that is worth, is at 13.7%.

Of course, McNivles was way down at 11.9%.

[The Hot Corner]

I’m still trying to convince myself that Bo Bichette is good enough to hit behind Soto.

Is he?

 

Well, I believe he is. Bichette historically makes contact, hits for a better average than anyone on the Mets roster, and provides 15-18 HRs a year. He has produced the following seasonal averages during his 7 year career (.294/.337/.469/.806). He sports a career OPS+ 121 and WAR 21.0.

He frequently hit behind Vlad Jr. in Toronto.*

He will have a learning curve at third base, but the biggest knock on his defense at shortstop was a lack of range. Not as big an issue at the hot corner. Third base is more reactionary. I am more worried about Polanco manning first base than I am about Bichette handling third.

*As mentioned previously by Gwreck.