The New York Mets signed Bo Bichette to a three-year contract for $126 million in total value.
Except, there's a decent chance that Bichette leaves the Mets after just one season following his departure from the Toronto Blue Jays.
And the reason is simple: $47 million.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported details on Bichette's opt-out clause in his contract, and it's fascinating.
Bichette is due to make $42 million playing for the Mets in 2026. And if he opts out after the season, he gets another $5 million.
In essence, that'd be $47 million for the single season.
And it would make Bichette a free agent again, a chance to pit the Mets against any other bidders out there who would likely go after him intensely again after an offseason in which New York beat out Bichette's other suitors.
"Barring injury, he is likely to reenter the market next offseason going into his age-29 season, the same position Kyle Tucker was in this winter," Rosenthal writes.
MORE: An Air Force Captain will pitch for Team USA at the World Baseball Classic
There is the threat of a potential lockout next offseason, but it doesn't appear to have deterred such a plan.
"But if games are missed, it will make no difference if he is a signed player or free agent," Rosenthal writes. "Either way, he will not be paid. For Bichette, what exactly would be the risk of exercising the first of his two opt outs in his three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets? In a weak 2026-27 free-agent class, he would be one of the youngest hitters on the market, and perhaps the best. He also is well aware that, prior to the last lockout in 2021, teams went on a spending frenzy, committing a one-day record $1.4 billion in salaries, including six contracts of at least $100 million."
Given all this, the Mets will have to do what they can to make Bichette feel at home so that when the time comes, he finds a way to potentially return, even if it's after first using that opt-out to get some extra cash before working his way back in free agency.
More MLB news:
- Team USA's projected WBC lineup is incredible
- Dominican Republic's projected WBC lineup is fierce
- Red Sox are paying Manny Ramirez same 2026 salary as Dodgers are paying Shohei Ohtani
- Buster Posey will change Hall of Fame voting forever
- MLB looking at realignment into East-West arrangement
- Hunter Pence's nephew has the best name and a 100 MPH fastball