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There seemed to be at least some interest from the Toronto Blue Jays in bringing back Bo Bichette.
In the end, though, the star infielder signed with the New York Mets, where he has shifted from shortstop to third base. And the Blue Jays found a replacement, Kazuma Okamoto, who takes over third base in Toronto.
The Blue Jays' middle infield will now feature Andres Gimenez at shortstop and Ernie Clement at second base.
The Mets have Bichette at third, Francisco Lindor at shortstop and Marcus Semien at second base.
The moves may work out just fine on both sides, but with Opening Day here, it's still a bit weird to see Bichette in a different uniform.
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Why did Blue Jays replace Bo Bichette with Kazuma Okamoto?
This all seemed to come down to the combination of contracts in play.
The Mets were willing to give Bichette a three-year contract for $126 million, which works out to $42 million per year. That's not all, either. The deal actually has opt-outs after each season, so Bichette can be a free agent again after this season and try to maximize his value with a potentially even bigger contract.
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The Blue Jays evidently didn't want to pay Bichette that much, or give in to the opt-out demands.
That left them to find a new infielder, and they got Okamoto from Japan, where he was a star in that country's NPB.
Okamoto signed for four years and $60 million, which is $15 million per year. He seems likely to hit for some contact and some power, and even if he's a slight downgrade from Bichette, the cost more than makes up for that.
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