Mets quickly rebound from Kyle Tucker debacle and land unexpected star free agent

The New York Mets suffered an embarrassment of epic proportions on Thursday night, when the Dodgers came in through the back door to steal Kyle Tucker right out from under them.

The Mets had a mind-bogglingly large AAV on the table, but the Dodgers took it a step further, as is their awful, infuriating way. Tucker took $240 million from LA over $220 million from New York. So much for Steve Cohen's "Let me know when you see smoke" tweet, that's been (appropriately) clowned on and resented for in the aftermath.

But Mets fans are seeing some smoke now.

After missing out on Tucker, the front office pivoted immediately. Per Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Mets and Bo Bichette are in agreement on a three-year deal, pending a physical. Jeff Passan had the full dollar amount: $126 million, for a $42 million AAV.

That's more like it.

Mets recover quickly from Kyle Tucker whiff by signing Bo Bichette to a three-year, $126 million deal

The Phillies, Red Sox, Dodgers, and the incumbent Blue Jays have been all heavily connected to Bichette throughout the offseason, but there was nary a peep about him and the Mets. Philadelphia has looked like the frontrunner in the last few weeks; they hired Don Mattingly, Bichette's bench coach in Toronto and were said to be optimistic about landing him. After the Dodgers signed Tucker, that took them out of the race for Bichette. (Maybe. You never know with them).

The last 24 hours have been absolutely brutal for the Blue Jays — always the bridesmaid, never the bride. No Tucker, No Bichette. The Mets took an unbelievable beating on Thursday night, but they regrouped quickly, got up, and dusted themselves off on Friday afternoon. They had to do this.

Bichette's deal contains no deferrals, a full no-trade clause, two opt-outs, and a $5 million opt-out bonus. Jon Heyman reported that he's expected to play third base at Citi Field, which immediately raises questions about Brett Baty's future. Maybe now is finally the time the Mets go all-in on a Tarik Skubal trade?

Bichette was said to be looking for a $300 million deal, which the Phillies — who have a fair amount of payroll flexibility — might've been willing to acquiesce to. But when his early-offseason AAV predictions landed around $26-28 million a year? Of course he's going to take $42 million.

It's still going to take a while for everyone to get over the Tucker debacle, but the front office gets a round of applause for being so quick on their feet in the pursuit of recovering their pride.