Bo Bichette's first words with Mets will vex spurned Phillies fans even more

The Philadelphia Phillies missed out on the opportunity to make a big offseason addition in Bo Bichette last week. Fans were reminded that nothing is a sure thing following the New York Mets surprising addition of him on Jan. 16.

The Mets introduced Bichette to New York on Wednesday and the newest member of the NL East rival's comments will vex Phillies fans who are angry with his decision to sign with a division rival.

The Phillies appeared to be the favorites to add Bichette, but fans were dealt a blow when the Mets stole him away. Those same fans are counting down the days until the first regular season game this year between the Mets and Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. And Bichette's words at the introductory press conference will only add fuel to the fire for spurned Phillies fans.

Phillies fans will only be further outraged after hearing what Bo Bichette had to say as he joins the Mets

During his introductory press conference at Citi Field, Bichette spoke about the reasons he chose to sign with the Mets. One line in particular stands out for fans in Philly.

"My first priority is winning, and obviously this organization is doing everything they can to do that," Bichette said. "The roster is great, like I said, and then on top of that just playing in front of fans like this is a pretty cool opportunity and I'm excited to get out there."

Phillies fans will point out that Philadelphia made the postseason last year, winning the NL East, while New York didn't. Phillies fans will roll their eyes at Bichette's comments about winning being his priority, since we all know his priority is money. Well, why wouldn't it be?

But one of the other remarks that may have gone overlooked was when Bichette casually dropped a line about having "good conversations" with other teams.

"It's very exciting to be here. This has been an exciting time for me," Bichette said about joining the Mets. "[I had] several good conversations with teams but ... came to the conclusion that it was very obvious I wanted to be a Met."

Phillies fans who will hold a grudge against Bichette for signing with the Mets will scoff at his notion that he had good conversations with other teams, as one of those other clubs he spoke with was Philadelphia. The Phillies and Bichette met on Jan. 12 and obviously conversed following that as they got to the point where the front office had agreed to meet Bichette's asking price.

The Phillies believed they had a deal with Bichette until New York took everyone by surprise, signing Bichette to a three-year, $126 deal with opt-outs after the first and second seasons. By contrast, Philadelphia reportedly offered the Orlando, Florida, native a seven-year, $200 million deal without opt-outs.

Bichette will earn $42 million in 2026 compared to $28.5 if he had agreed to a deal with the Phillies. If you were an MLB free agent looking to capitalize on your player's value, wouldn't you choose to sign the contract where you'd earn more money and have the flexibility to opt out of the deal to potentially earn more money on a new contract?

Even if Bichette doesn't opt out, he'll continue to earn more money per season over the next two seasons than he would've with the Phillies.

If Philadelphia hadn't been concerned about the luxury tax and could have afforded to sign more players to short-term deals with higher AAVs and, more importantly, included player opt-outs in their contracts, they could've signed Bichette. However, the fan base shouldn't direct their anger at Bichette for signing with a division rival, nor at the Mets, but at the Phillies front office for their contractual approaches to adding players.