Naturally, Dave Dombrowski wasn’t too happy to see Bo Bichette land 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.”
Bichette agreed to a three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets on Friday. The two-time All-Star shortstop is expected to play third base for New York after spending his entire career to this point with the Toronto Blue Jays. That culminated with a run to the World Series last fall, in which they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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While he ended up in New York, the Phillies felt they were “very close” to landing Bichette. They had a meeting with him early last week and were working to prepare a long-term deal.
It’s unclear how close the two sides actually were or if a verbal agreement was reached. But Dombrowski said the Phillies 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.”
Bichette matched his career high at the plate with a .311 batting average last season, something he first put up in his rookie campaign in 2019. He had 18 home runs and 94 RBI, too. He missed time in September and the playoffs due to a knee injury, however.
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While the Phillies missed out on landing Bichette, the team is bringing back the core of the team that made it to the NLDS last season. They re-signed catcher J.T. Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million deal. Considering the team won 96 games and the NL East title last season, they can still feel pretty good heading into spring training.
“I think we’re content where we are at this point,” Dombrowski said.
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