It’s not how things were supposed to Bo.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski believed the club was close to landing All-Star infielder Bo Bichette on a reported seven-year, $200 million deal — before he spurned Philadelphia for a shorter-term contract with NL East rival Mets.
“I can’t say that we ever thought it was done,” Dombrowski told reporters Tuesday as the club made its three-year, $45 million deal with J.T. Realmuto official. “We thought we were very close to having a deal done. We thought it was going to happen, but it wasn’t done. There’s a difference between the two.
“As I’ve explained to some other people, it’s a situation where in baseball, and agents run things differently between themselves, they do things in different ways. Until you sign a memo of understanding, you don’t have a deal done. We did not sign one of those.”
Philadelphia media reported the front office was “livid” after Bichette agreed to a three-year, $126 million deal with New York, which includes a higher average annual value and multiple opt-outs.
Dombrowski candidly called the development a “gut punch” to the organization, while noting that Kyle Tucker’s free agency — which ended with him signing with the Dodgers for $240 million after negotiations with the Mets — may have shifted the market.
“The [Kyle] Tucker signing played into it, I believe, the timing of it,” Dombrowski said. “Organizations that are smart and the Mets and Dodgers are smart. I don’t know [if] Tucker had gone to the Mets instead of the Dodgers that Dodgers wouldn’t have jumped into [Bichette] at the last second.
“I could be wrong, but I do think [Bichette] was sincere about coming to Philadelphia. I think what ended up happening was the dollar numbers … we were at the numbers they really asked to match and to pay. We were going through some nuances but I think in that time period the Mets jumped in … it ended up being so much they ended up taking the short-term offer rather than the long-term offer.”
The team quickly pivoted to reuniting with the soon-to-be 35-year-old catcher Realmuto, who admitted that the failed Bichette pursuit put his future with the Phillies in doubt.
“Yeah, towards the end, there was a short time where, it’s no secret, the Phillies had other opportunities,” Realmuto said Tuesday. “Myself as well, I was looking at other teams, there at the end, it got a little stressful where we thought there was a chance we wouldn’t be back. It wasn’t ideal for us, we made it pretty clear we wanted to be with the Phillies from the start.”
Dombrowski added that Philadelphia communicated with Realmuto’s camp about possibly signing Bichette since adding both players was unlikely “at that moment in time.”
The three-time All-Star has been a staple behind the plate for the Phillies since 2019.
He’s coming off a down offensive season, slashing .257/.315/.384 with 12 home runs and 52 RBIs (94 wRC) in 134 games – all career lows since 2016, excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
Dombrowski noted that the team still expects to part ways with two-time All-Star outfielder Nick Castellanos, but despite the interest in Bichette, he does not anticipate any high-profile free agency acquisitions.
The Phillies re-signed slugger Kyle Schwarber this offseason, in addition to acquiring outfielder Adolis Garcia and reliever Brad Keller.
“I think we’re content where we are at this point,” Dombrowski said.
