Bo Bichette Just Forced An Early Mets Offseason Decision

Bo Bichette's decision to exercise his 2027 player option with the Mets sets the stage for a critical offseason, as the team aims to solidify its lineup amidst injury comebacks and a looming lockout.

Bo Bichette is expected to stay put for 2027, and the decision makes plenty of sense after the season he just had in New York.

According to sources cited by Will Sammon, Bichette will exercise his player option and return to the Mets next season. He’ll make $42 million in 2027 and still has another player option at the same figure for 2028.

The move continues a relationship that began quickly. The Mets signed Bichette within 24 hours of striking out in their chase for Kyle Tucker, who eventually went to the Dodgers.

Bichette arrived shortly after the club moved on from Pete Alonso and traded Brandon Nimmo, a stretch that was part roster reshaping and part attempt to calm fans who wanted a major addition. The Mets also needed another bat to help support Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, and Bichette came in fresh off a 2025 season that included a 134 wRC+, a career best in a full season, and 3.8 fWAR while helping the Blue Jays win the American League pennant.

Bichette originally hit free agency looking for a long-term deal as he prepared to enter his age-28 season, but that market never developed the way he wanted. He settled for a shorter-term arrangement with the Mets, with the expectation that he’d put up numbers close to his norms and then opt out to chase that bigger payday the next winter. Instead, the path back to free agency never really opened up.

His first months in New York were rough. Through June 2, Bichette was hitting .213/.271/.229 with five home runs and a 61 wRC+.

After that, he settled in and looked much more like himself, batting .289/.337/.447 with 13 homers and a 117 wRC+ over his final 99 games. For the season, he finished at .260/.312/.390 with 18 home runs, 76 runs scored, 78 RBIs, a 96 wRC+, and 1.9 fWAR in 160 games.

The Mets got a real glimpse of what Bichette can bring from June 3 on, but the full body of work made opting out a bad bet. With the lockout approaching and 2027 carrying plenty of uncertainty, locking in $42 million is the safer play.

If Bichette does bounce back further, the Mets would gain another useful piece in a lineup already featuring Lindor and Soto, both of whom are hoping to rebound from injury-marred seasons, along with younger options such as Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing and a few promising prospects in the pipeline.

Bichette’s decision is the first major move of what is expected to be a hectic offseason before the anticipated lockout on December 2. More action is expected before all transactions and activity come to a halt.

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