NL East powerhouse feels even worse than the Blue Jays do about not landing Bichette

The Toronto Blue Jays spent the last decade developing Bo Bichette into a premium major league talent. They watched him blossom and flourish on the biggest stage in baseball, and when it was time to put some money on the table to keep him around, the Blue Jays either couldn't or didn't compete with the biggest offer on the market.

Bichette chose a three-year $126 million deal with the deep pocketed New York Mets that will pay him $42 million per season. It's not known yet what the Blue Jays' offer to Bichette was, but even in the aftermath of the signing, there is another team that feels almost worse than the Blue Jays do about not getting the 27-year-old, and that team is the Philadelphia Phillies.

NL East powerhouse feels even worse than the Blue Jays do about not landing Bichette

If we can recount the series of events, the Phillies brought in former Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly to fill the same role for them in 2026. With Mattingly in tow, many speculated that there would be some interest in Bichette joining the Phillies considering the close relationship the two shared while in Toronto.

It was then revealed that the Phillies had arranged to meet with the Phillies, and reports came out shortly afterwards that those meetings went well. By all accounts the Phillies were suddenly the favourites to land Bo. But until a player signs on the dotted line, nothing is guaranteed and Phillies GM Dave Dombrowski reiterated that this week, according to USA Today's baseball reporter Bob Nightengale.

In a tweet, Nightengale wrote, "Dave Dombrowski on the Bo Bichette talks: "I did think we were going to get a deal done...We were close....It was a gut punch. ...But until you have a signed memo of understanding, you don't have a deal."

A "gut punch" for a team that never even had him to begin with, imagine how Blue Jays fans are feeling. Bichette would clearly have been an upgraded for either the Blue Jays or Phillies. He would have brought one of the best contact abilities in baseball to that squad.

Bichette is coming off a season in which he hit .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs. He also had 181 hits in 139 games and came up clutch time and time again. With two outs and runners in scoring position, Bichette hit .306 with a .966 OPS in those situations, and also had a .414 OBP with a .581 SLG in high leverage situations.

If there is a silver lining for the Blue Jays it's that Bichette playing for the Mets means he is out of the AL East and they will only have to see him once a season under the balanced schedule format. The Phillies don't have that luxury. Not only were they spurned by Bichette, but he now plays for a division rival, a team that has consistently battled the Phillies for NL East supremacy for the better part of the last five years.