Bo Bichette’s focus this spring appears to rest solely with his new team.
On the heels of his lucrative three-year, $126 million deal with the Mets, the infielder will not suit up for Team Brazil in this year’s World Baseball Classic, according to ESPN Brasil.
The 27-year-old expressed his desire to suit up for Brazil in this year’s tournament alongside older brother Dante Bichette Jr., a first-round pick by the Yankees in 2011.
Their mother, Mariana, is a native of Porto Alegre, Brazil, which made them both eligible.
“I hope that I can bring some attention to baseball in Brazil,” Bichette told MLB.com last May. “There’s amazing and talented athletes in there. The WBC is a big opportunity for us.”
Bo and Dante, sons of former MLB slugger Dante Bichette, both suited up for Brazil during the 2016 WBC qualifiers at Maimonides Park in Brooklyn.
A prospect in the Blue Jays system at the time, Bichette recorded two hits in those games, though Brazil failed to qualify for the WBC.
Bichette would have been the lone MLB representative for Brazil in the tournament, as his brother never played above Double-A. The last Brazilian-born players to appear at the MLB level were catcher Yan Gomes and pitcher Thyago Vieira in 2024.
While Bichette would also be eligible to play for Team USA in the WBC, it seems he will enter spring training looking to acclimate to his new club and new position.
After spending his first seven major league seasons with the Blue Jays, the two-time All-Star officially joined the Mets as the team’s new third baseman last week.
He slashed a strong .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs last season, finishing second to Aaron Judge (.331) for the American League batting title.
Outside of last year’s postseason, when he played at second base after returning from a knee injury, Bichette spent his entire big league career at shortstop — where several defensive metrics rated him among the worst defenders at the position.
Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza told noti.group’s Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman during Monday’s edition of “The Show” podcast that early indicators on Bichette’s new position are encouraging.
“He’s an athlete,” Mendoza said. “We’re looking at a guy that has played shortstop pretty much his whole career. And just watching him today, moving around third base, taking ground balls, creating angles and then the throws to first base, I was telling him, ‘It looks like you played there before.’”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
