Mets’ Bo Bichette Accused Of ‘Blatant Untruths’ After Blue Jays Breakup

The Toronto Blue Jays have officially moved on from a long-time star player, at least on paper.

The team will play its first season in the last seven years without infielder Bo Bichette on the roster now that he has formally accepted a contract to join the New York Mets. It was a harsh blow for many Blue Jays fans and, even if the player and teams involved are officially moving on, there might be some hard feelings lingering.

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“Oh, that hurt,” Toronto Star Blue Jays columnist Rose DiManno wrote, following Bichette’s introductory press conference with the Mets. “Watching Bo Bichette slip into a New York Mets jersey, pull a New York Mets ball cap over his head… Speaking blatant untruths, but the kind of stuff a player is expected to say in his choreographed introduction to a new city, a new franchise. Always wanted to be a Met, my fanny.”

DiManno was referring to a soundbite from the Mets introduction that heard Bichette declare that “it was very obvious” that he wanted to be a Met. Instead, DiManno asserted that Bichette genuinely wanted to remain with the Blue Jays, though the infielder could sense that his time with the franchise wouldn’t last forever.

“Though he rarely revealed his innermost thoughts, grown more reserved over the years, there were occasions when he disclosed deep anger toward the organization and bitter disappointment,” DiManno reported. “I think he came to somewhat resent being the lesser golden boy to Guerrero’s generational superstar and franchise bulwark.”

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The idea that perhaps Bichette had grown discontent with the Blue Jays was reinforced by a former teammate, Whit Merrifield, who revealed some hard feelings on Wednesday.

“There is some stuff that went on with Bo and the Jays as far as some of the front office and the coaching staff that I think maybe tainted that relationship a little bit,” Merrifield said during an episode of the “6ix Inning Stretch” podcast. “I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t go back to Toronto.”

But DiManno did not just accuse Bichette of stretching the truth in his introduction to the Mets. She argued that the Blue Jays’ front office was misleading fans as its leaders suggested they would sincerely try to retain Bichette this winter.

“In their state-of-the-union confab with reporters following the Jays’ exhilarating run to the World Series, Toronto pooh-bah Mark Shapiro and general manager vassal Ross Atkins both asserted their keenness to re-sign Bichette,” she added. “They lied. They always lie.”

Ultimately, any hard feelings about how the Blue Jays’ offseason panned out could be quelled by another successful World Series run next season. But as their dream season turned into a busy winter, perhaps the team’s relationship with its former franchise shortstop was not quite as strong as it was portrayed to be by either side.