3 reasons Bo Bichette will make the NY Mets rumors come true and opt out of his contract

It’s way too early for Bo Bichette to officially opt out of his New York Mets contract and if he’s even thinking about it, we have a problem. Bob Nightengale was the lone ranger to share the Mets rumors about Bichette’s New York tenure ending after only one year, saying it's believed that he will opt out. Needless to say, there were some immediate questions.

Mid-June in a gravely disappointing season seems like a strange moment for a player in year one of a possible three-year deal to make such a major choice. Nightengale’s report was met with skepticism. While better, Bichette isn’t exactly in the MVP conversation or even someone performing like he belongs on the All-Star roster.

Is #bob’s report humbug or is there something to it? Playing some devil’s advocate and siding with Nightengale, there are a few scenarios which could have Bichette becoming a free agent.

Why Bo Bichette will make those Mets rumors come true

1) The shortstop and third base market this offseason is weak

The free agent class on the left side of the infield is a mess in the offseason. J.P. Crawford may be the best shortstop. At third base, Bichette could have the most appeal with Eugenio Suarez’s power (something the Mets learned firsthand on Monday) making a case to secure a larger short-term deal. 

A decision like walking away from his contract will have a lot to do with what he and his agent believe the market for him would look like. Very few choices and already a team like the Philadelphia Phillies prepared to move on from Alec Bohm will give Bichette at least one team with perceived interest. 

2) Bo Bichette will continue to hit and his end-of-season numbers won’t be so bad

Several productive games have Bichette feeling like less of a bust and more of a slow starter. It’s just a shame it took him as long as he did to start coming up with hits in bunches. Now hitting .245/.290/.372 on the year, he’s out of the sewer and into the swamp.

It’s a large enough sample of 30 days where Bichette has batted .303/.333/.541. It’s not a realistic pace and even with a dip here and there won’t hurt his totals overall. More confident at the plate these days with results following, he’s a long way from batting .220.

3) Even if he isn’t all that much better, he’ll believe someone will have faith he’ll be better moving forward

Bichette’s ascent has already begun, but what if it hits a road block? Even if Bichette doesn’t finish the year looking like the man we were sold he could be, someone will believe in it. Faith is a powerful thing. How else does James Corden keep getting work? Someone will think he’s due.

A mistake many teams make is paying a guy for what they have done rather than what they will do. If predicting what a player would do was easy, mistakes would rarely be made. The Mets paid Bichette off of a career-high .311 batting average. It’s too much to expect him to hit anywhere close to that. However, he’s already close to half the home run and RBI totals from last season. What’s missing most are the doubles. He had 44 last season. He didn’t go into double digits until his 72nd game of the season.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow