After the signing of the coveted Kyle Tucker by the Dodgers, the New York Mets activated their plan B this Friday by acquiring the American Bo Bichette, according to journalistic reports and the Major League Baseball website.
Bichette, the other major piece available on the market, will land free in the Queens franchise after ending his contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, with whom he reached the World Series last year.
The 27-year-old American and two-time All-Star will play alongside Dominican Juan Soto in the Mets for the next three years in exchange for $126 million, according to coincidental reports on the Major League website and media such as ESPN and The Athletic.
The signing has not yet been made official by the Mets, nor has that of Kyle Tucker by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the champions of the last two Major League seasons.
Tucker, who comes from the Chicago Cubs, agreed on Thursday to join the Dodgers with a four-year, $240 million contract, declining the four-year, $220 million offer that the Mets put on the table, according to ESPN.
The right fielder, four-time All-Star and winner of the 2022 World Series with the Houston Astros, will support a fearsome lineup in Los Angeles full of stars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
These moves by the Dodgers and Mets, who were already the two franchises with the most expensive payrolls, shake up a sport already divided by the enormous spending disparities between the teams.
The case of the Dodgers is the one that has generated the most criticism from rivals, especially from smaller markets, who find themselves unable to compete in financial terms.
The Major Leagues are the only major North American sports competition that does not have a mechanism to limit franchise salary expenditure. Instead, it applies a luxury tax to teams that exceed a payroll threshold.
