Bo Bichette seems to be completely focused on his new team this spring.
The infielder, who recently signed a three-year contract worth $126 million with the Mets, won’t be participating in the World Baseball Classic for Brazil this year.
At 27 years old, he has shown a desire to play for Brazil alongside his older brother, Dante Bichette Jr., who was a first-round pick by the Yankees in 2011.
Their mother, Mariana, hails from Porto Alegre, Brazil, which qualifies them both.
“I hope that I can draw some attention to Brazilian baseball,” Bichette mentioned last May. “There are some great, talented players there. The WBC is a big opportunity for us.”
Both Bo and Dante previously represented Brazil during the 2016 WBC Qualifier held in Brooklyn, although Brazil did not qualify for the main event.
At that time, Bichette was a prospect for the Blue Jays and managed to record two hits, but it wasn’t enough for the team.
If he had participated this year, Bo would have been the only MLB player from Brazil in the tournament, since Dante never made it past Double-A. The most recent Brazilian-born players in the MLB were catcher Yan Gomes and pitcher Thiago Vieira in 2024.
Bichette is also eligible to join Team USA in the WBC, but it seems likely he will focus on acclimating to his new club and position during spring training.
After spending seven seasons with the Blue Jays, where he earned All-Star status twice, he officially joined the Mets last week as their new third baseman.
Last season, he had a batting average of .311 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs, securing the American League batting title, just ahead of Aaron Judge.
Despite returning to second base during last year’s postseason due to a knee injury, he’s spent most of his MLB career at shortstop, where he’s been considered one of the weaker defenders according to various metrics.
Mets captain Carlos Mendoza shared some promising remarks about Bichette’s transition to third base on a podcast. He stated, “He’s an athlete. We’re looking at a guy who’s played shortstop almost his entire career. Today, watching him move around third base and take ground balls, I said to him, ‘You look like you’ve played there before.’”
