Red Sox Get Discouraging Bo Bichette Update Amid Interest

The Boston Red Sox were reportedly talking to Bo Bichette even before Alex Bregman agreed to join the Chicago Cubs. However, with Bregman off the board, the Red Sox are expected to focus on Bichette.

Bichette is younger than Bregman, so Craig Breslow and company may be more willing to spend big on him. However, they are not the only team interested in the two-time All-Star. Bichette reportedly met with the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, and unfortunately for the Red Sox, the meeting went “very well,” according to MLB insider Jon Heyman.

“Bichette/Phillies meeting is said to have gone very well (for what it’s worth),” Heyman wrote on X on Tuesday. “Bichette admires ‘first class’ organization. Other pluses: roster, park, Mattinglys link, spring proximity to home.”

According to The Athletic’s Matt Gelb, the Phillies’ willingness to give out a longer deal could give them an edge over other suitors.

“Within the industry, the general sentiment is that whenever Dave Dombrowski targets a star player, he’ll find a way to land him,” Gelb wrote on Tuesday. “That is an oversimplification; Dombrowski, the club’s president of baseball operations, is not undefeated. When the Phillies want a player in a competitive market, they typically wield years as their separator. This, executives from rival clubs have cited in recent days, is why the Phillies’ late entrance into the Bichette market cannot be dismissed.”

The fact that the Phillies are willing to do something the Red Sox are not, which is committing long-term to free agents, could help them land Bichette. That, paired with the fact that the meeting went well, could force the Red Sox to up their potential offer to Bichette.

The Red Sox were reportedly willing to match the five years Bregman got from Chicago, so perhaps Breslow will not shy away from a seven or eight-year offer for Bichette, who turns 28 in March. However, Dombrowski’s aggressive nature, paired with a genuine interest in Bichette, is not good news for the Red Sox and other Bichette pursuers.

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Phillies are the current favorites to sign Bichette. Recent reports of a positive meeting would support that. The Red Sox could still make an aggressive push for Bichette, but the fact that the Phillies want him may force the Red Sox to start thinking of other options as well.