Naturally, Dave Dombrowski wasn’t too happy to see that Bo Bichette landed with the New York Mets last week.
That, the Philadelphia Phillies president said on Tuesday, felt like “a gut punch.”
“You feel it. That day you are very upset, I guess is the way to say it,” Dombrowski said, via The Associated Press. “You have to pick yourself up and shake it off. You can’t just wallow in what took place.”
on Friday. The two-time All-Star shortstop is expected to play third base for the Mets after he spent his entire career with the Toronto Blue Jays. That culminated with a run to the World Series last fall, though they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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While he ended up in New York, the Phillies felt like they were “very close” to landing Bichette instead. They had a meeting with him early last week, and were working to prepare a long-term deal for him.
It’s unclear how close the two sides actually were, or if an oral agreement was reached. But Dombrowski said they were at the numbers that Bichette’s team had asked them to match.
“I can’t say that we ever thought it was done,” Dombrowski said. “There’s a difference. We thought we were very close to having a deal done. We thought it was going to happen. But it wasn’t done.”
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Bichette matched his career-high at the plate with a .311 batting average last season, something he first put up in his rookie campaign back in 2019. Bichette had 18 home runs and 94 RBIs, too. He missed time during the playoffs last season due to a knee injury, however, something that’s been an issue for him in recent years.
While the Phillies missed out on landing him, the team is still bringing back the core of the team that made it to the NLDS last season. They also signed catcher J.T. Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million deal. Considering the team won 96 games last season and claimed the NL East title, losing Bichette isn’t the end of the world.
“I think we’re content where we are at this point,” Dombrowski said.
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