Bo Bichette has settled into the kind of finish that can leave a front office with a headache instead of a celebration.
The Mets’ third baseman has been much better over the last few months than he was out of the gate, and Sunday offered another reminder of why New York viewed him as the right fallback when Kyle Tucker picked the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the San Francisco Giants choosing to intentionally walk Juan Soto and then daring Bichette to beat them, he did exactly that, helping the Mets secure their 65th win of the season.
That’s the part that stings a little now: Bichette is playing well enough to make the whole thing feel more complicated.
He is signed for three years, but the deal includes player options after year one and year two, so there is no guarantee he’s back with the Mets in 2027. Given the slow start, the uncertainty around the CBA, and one of the highest salaries in the sport, most people seem to believe Bichette will opt into year two of the contract. After the season he’s had in 2026, it’s tough to picture another team rushing to hand him $42 million.
Still, the most annoying outcome is the one that suddenly looks plausible: Bichette catches fire late, turns in a strong September, then walks away after helping the Mets win - and after costing them draft capital in the process.
Because of the qualifying offer he turned down with the Toronto Blue Jays, Bichette came to New York attached to draft pick compensation. The Mets were hit especially hard because of how much they spent on players, losing their second- and fifth-highest draft picks. They did get one back when Edwin Diaz joined the Dodgers, so Bichette’s arrival effectively cost them a second-rounder.
That’s always the calculation with free agents who reject the QO: are they worth the picks that disappear with them?
For the Mets, the answer gets even messier because wins keep pushing them closer to another penalty. If they finish outside the top six worst teams, they’ll slide 10 spots in the 2027 MLB Draft.
It’s the same luxury-tax punishment that has kept knocking them down the board. They didn’t pick until 27th this past July, even though their 2025 record should have put them at 17th overall.
Right now, the Mets hold the fifth spot in next year’s MLB Draft, lottery results aside. The Detroit Tigers are sitting on the same 65-78 record, and the Seattle Mariners are sinking fast enough that they could soon fall behind New York.
Tankathon notes that the San Francisco Giants can’t end up with anything better than a top-10 pick, so they’re not part of the concern. The Washington Nationals and even the Minnesota Twins, though, could still complicate things for the Mets.
None of that changes Bichette’s job. No one is asking him to play badly for the sake of draft positioning.
His responsibility is to perform, and he has done that. The frustration comes from the timing.
A while ago, the idea of Bichette returning in 2027 felt lukewarm at best. Now, after a .794 OPS in the second half and a .284 batting average, he looks much closer to what the Mets expected all along. He has handled the boos, said all the right things since opening weekend, and never turned his back on the fans or the city.
He also fits the roster almost too neatly.
And that is what makes this such an annoying outcome: Bichette playing well enough to matter, helping the Mets win, and maybe setting himself up for a more appealing deal somewhere else - while the Mets are left to deal with the draft damage too.
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Mets Roster Shuffle Says A Lot About Who Still Has A Chance
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Around the National League East, the day carried its usual mix of results and reminders that nothing stays static for long, with the Braves beating the Phillies, the Marlins taking care of the Cubs and the Nationals falling to the Dodgers. Add in the league-wide churn of milestones, injuries and even the news of Joe Morgans death, and the Mets latest shuffle fits the broader picture: October hopes are shaped not just by the stars at the top, but by the fringe players still fighting for one more chance. [Read more 🡒]