Bo Bichette is heading to Queens - and he's doing something his father never did.
The 25-year-old shortstop has signed a three-year, $126 million contract with the New York Mets, making a major move from the Toronto Blue Jays and stepping into a new chapter of his career. And while the deal itself is big news, there’s a fascinating wrinkle to it: Bo just accomplished something his father, Dante Bichette, never did across his 14-year MLB career - sign a free-agent contract.
That’s right. Despite playing for five different teams - the California Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Red Sox - Dante Bichette never once changed teams via free agency. Every time he moved, it was through a trade.
Let’s walk through it.
In 1991, Dante was traded from the Angels to the Brewers in exchange for Dave Parker. A year later, Milwaukee flipped him to the Rockies for Kevin Reimer - a move that would land him in Colorado just in time to become one of the faces of the franchise’s early years.
By 1999, the Rockies sent him to Cincinnati in a deal that brought back Stan Belinda and Jeffrey Hammonds. And in 2000, the Reds traded him to Boston for John Curtice and Chris Reitsma.
Dante signed contract extensions along the way, keeping him off the open market. He was finally granted free agency in November 2001, after wrapping up his age-37 season with the Red Sox.
But by then, his playing days were done. So despite a strong career - a .299 lifetime average, 274 home runs, 152 stolen bases, and four All-Star nods - he never got to experience the free-agent frenzy firsthand.
Bo just changed that.
Not only does Bo’s deal mark a major payday, it also represents a generational shift. His father was a cornerstone of the Rockies’ “Blake Street Bombers” era, a feared bat who thrived in the high-altitude offense of Coors Field. Now Bo, known for his bat speed, contact skills, and aggressive approach at the plate, is carving out his own legacy - one that now includes a lucrative free-agent contract with one of baseball’s biggest-market teams.
It’s a full-circle moment for the Bichette family. Dante was a power-hitting outfielder who never got to test the open waters of free agency. Bo, a dynamic shortstop in his prime, just cashed in on the chance his dad never had.
And now, Dante gets to do something else he never did during his playing days: watch his son take on the big stage in New York, with a fresh contract, a new uniform, and the spotlight squarely on him.