Bo Bichette’s name is suddenly floating in trade chatter, and the situation is anything but simple.
The Mets are headed toward seller mode at the MLB trade deadline after a season that has gone off the rails, and that has opened the door to questions about whether Bichette could be moved. He arrived in New York with the idea of helping push the Mets toward the playoffs, but that plan has gone sideways.
The contract alone makes any deal complicated. Bichette is in the first year of a three-year, $126 million contract that pays him $42 million per season, and he has opt-outs after each season if he chooses to use them.
The bigger issue is whether his play has been strong enough to make him want to walk away from the rest of that deal after this year. That uncertainty makes it difficult for another team to know exactly what it would be getting, both financially and in terms of performance.
Then there’s the no-trade clause.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post asked Bichette whether he would waive it for a move before the Aug. 3 deadline, and Heyman reported that Bichette was “noncommittal.” That answer fits the moment. It would make little sense for Bichette to lock himself into a blanket yes or no, since some destinations would likely appeal to him more than others.
A reunion with the Toronto Blue Jays has also been mentioned in speculation, which would be a notable twist given that Bichette spent his entire career there before this season. What he would think about that possibility isn’t immediately clear.
Either way, this is not the season anyone around the Mets expected, and Bichette’s name is likely to keep coming up over the next two weeks.
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