Phillies ‘livid’ after Bo Bichette spurned team’s $200M offer for Mets deal

The Phillies were confident Bo Bichette was Philadelphia-bound — until he wasn’t.

Bichette passed on the Phillies’ reported seven-year, $200 million offer to join the NL East rival Mets on a three-year, $126 million deal with a higher average annual value and multiple opt-outs.

Philadelphia’s front office had been planning for Bichette to man third base for the foreseeable future, and the outcome reportedly left a sour taste.

Bo Bichette agreed to a three-year deal with the Mets. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“The word livid was used in terms of the reaction to the news that Bo did not end up coming to the Phillies and went to the Mets,” MLB.com Phillies reporter Todd Zolecki said Saturday on “The Phillies Show” alongside reporter Jim Salisbury and former general manager Rubén Amaro Jr.

“It’s kind of a rug-pulled-from-under-them situation.”

Philadelphia met with Bichette last Monday, and was the consensus favorite to land the two-time All-Star.

Salisbury added that the team had “legit, real confidence” last Thursday that Bichette would sign with them.

The longtime Phillies scribe compared the Mets’ late swoop for Bichette to one of the most famous heists in history.

“It feels like the Lufthansa heist at LaGuardia from ‘Goodfellas’,” Salisbury said with a chuckle — blending the infamous real-life December 1978 robbery at JFK Airport later depicted in the film with the Mets operating just across the street from LaGuardia in Queens.

Amaro, who spent parts of seven seasons as the Phillies GM before joining the Mets as a coach and advisor from 2018-19, said the high-profile signings of Kyle Tucker and Ranger Suárez put the Mets in “panic” mode.

The New York Post back page for Jan. 17, 2026, featuring the news of the Mets signing Bo Bichette.

Tucker inked a historic four-year, $240 million deal with the Dodgers, while Suarez joined the Red Sox on a five-year, $130 million pact.

“As if the Phillies fans needed to have another reason to be pissed off at the Los Angeles Dodgers, they are the wild cards here,” Amaro said.

“The Dodgers signed Tucker, that was a target for the Mets and a target possibly for the Red Sox. Ranger goes to the Red Sox on a panic sign, and I believe in my heart of hearts, it was another panic sign by the Mets to sign Bo Bichette and to do what they did.”

The career shortstop did not seem to have an obvious fit in Queens — where Francisco Lindor is locked in as the starter — but he had expressed to teams a willingness to change positions.

Bichette, who turns 28 in March, will now man the hot corner in Queens while bolstering a Mets lineup that has lost Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil this offseason.

He led the American League in hits in back-to-back seasons from 2021-22 and finished second to Aaron Judge for the batting crown in 2025.

Despite battling a serious knee injury sustained in early September, Bichette slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs over 139 games.