PHILADELPHIA -- Bo Bichette and the Phillies are getting on a Zoom call Monday. That’s the news. The temptation, in a town that can already see him batting behind Bryce Harper in high-def, is to skip right to the parade route. But here’s the reality: it would be foolish for these two sides not to talk, and equally foolish to confuse a virtual meeting with an imminent signing.
Start with that first part. Of course the Phillies are interested. This is a front office that has never met a star it didn’t want to at least daydream about. Bichette is 27, a two-time All-Star who just hit .311 with 18 homers and 94 RBIs for the Blue Jays in 2025, then posted a .348 average in the World Series while playing hurt. Over his career, he’s at .294 with 111 home runs and 437 RBIs. If that guy is on the market and your team is trying to get from “really good” to “unavoidable,” you at least pick up the phone.
And of course Bichette’s camp wants the Phillies in the room. He’s represented by Vayner Sports, after previously being with CAA. The reporting over the last 48 hours has painted a pretty clear picture of their strategy: build as big a stage as possible. The Yankees have serious interest as their Bellinger chase wobbles, the Cubs and Dodgers have checked in, the Red Sox have been linked, and a Blue Jays reunion hasn’t been ruled out, even as Toronto spends aggressively elsewhere.
If you’re trying to land something in the neighborhood of the $300 million price tag that Jon Heyman and others say Bichette is asking for, you want as many big-market bidders as possible at the table. So yes, the Phillies are in that mix now. That’s leverage. It’s not a countdown clock.
On the Philadelphia side, this is due diligence with benefits. The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and Ken Rosenthal first reported that the Phillies had a video meeting scheduled with Bichette, a report later echoed elsewhere and pinned down to Monday. MLB.com has framed it as the club “talking with” a star infielder to see whether a deal is even realistic. Don Mattingly, hired this week as Rob Thomson’s bench coach, just spent three seasons in Toronto and knows Bichette as well as anyone in that clubhouse. If you’re Dave Dombrowski, you’d almost be negligent not to tap into that relationship, get on a Zoom, and find out what the player wants — in dollars, in years, in role, in life.
But now we get to the second part: why that still doesn’t make a signing likely, let alone imminent.
Start with the tax man. The Phillies are already brushing up against the highest competitive balance tax tier, within roughly $4 million of the top bracket. If they push past that line, they’d face a 110% tax on any additional dollars they add. In other words, a $25 million salary for Bichette effectively becomes a $50 million outlay. That same financial squeeze is part of what’s complicating their efforts to bring back J.T. Realmuto.
Which brings us to the catcher domino. The Phillies are still waiting on an answer from Realmuto, and reporting this week has suggested the sides have kicked around multiple multi-year structures while he holds out for a little more. His return is still viewed as the most likely outcome, until it isn’t. But if you’re signing Bichette at his current ask, you’re not just adding a bat. You’re effectively choosing a path.
One path: Bichette comes in, the money for Realmuto goes out, and the Phillies talk themselves into a Marchán–Stubbs tandem behind the plate. Another: they pivot to the trade market, where someone like Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers has already been identified as a possible target — a short-term, offense-first catcher who would cost you players and prospects and still walks away in a year.
None of those scenarios are impossible. All of them are complicated. None of them scream, “We’re one Zoom call away from a done deal.”
Then there’s the infield math. Trea Turner is entrenched at shortstop. Bichette spent the World Series at second base and has been floated as a possible third baseman in the right situation. If you drop him into Philadelphia, the cleanest fit is probably third, which pushes Alec Bohm out the door. Multiple outlets have raised that possibility in their coverage of the meeting.
But trading Bohm is more than a line in a rumor column. Moving him means finding a suitor that values him properly and either taking back money (which defeats the luxury-tax purpose) or prospect capital the front office is reluctant to surrender. Every step in that chain adds another layer between “talking to Bo Bichette” and “putting him in red pinstripes.”
And somewhere in this Jenga tower is Nick Castellanos. The Phillies have made it plain, publicly and privately, that they don’t envision him on their 2026 roster. MLB.com, The Inquirer and others have all described him as the most likely trade or release candidate, with $20 million still owed for next season. Until that situation is resolved, whether via a trade that eats money, a creative bad-contract swap, or an outright release, it’s another eight-figure obstacle between the Phillies and any nine-figure fantasy.
Meanwhile, outside the South Philly bubble, the rest of the league is not politely stepping aside.
Then there’s the infield math. Trea Turner is entrenched at shortstop. Bichette spent the World Series at second base and has been floated as a possible third baseman in the right situation. If you drop him into Philadelphia, the cleanest fit is probably third, which pushes Alec Bohm out the door. Multiple outlets have raised that possibility in their coverage of the meeting.
But trading Bohm is more than a line in a rumor column. Moving him means finding a suitor that values him properly and either taking back money (which defeats the luxury-tax purpose) or prospect capital the front office is reluctant to surrender. Every step in that chain adds another layer between “talking to Bo Bichette” and “putting him in red pinstripes.”
And somewhere in this Jenga tower is Nick Castellanos. The Phillies have made it plain, publicly and privately, that they don’t envision him on their 2026 roster. MLB.com, The Inquirer and others have all described him as the most likely trade or release candidate, with $20 million still owed for next season. Until that situation is resolved, whether via a trade that eats money, a creative bad-contract swap, or an outright release, it’s another eight-figure obstacle between the Phillies and any nine-figure fantasy.
Meanwhile, outside the South Philly bubble, the rest of the league is not politely stepping aside.
The Yankees’ interest is described as “intensifying” as their Bellinger talks stall. The Dodgers have already checked in and, according to recent national reporting, are lurking for either Bichette or Kyle Tucker if the market breaks their way. The Blue Jays have been told his ask is in that $300 million range and are still at least theoretically in the picture. This isn’t a one-team auction. It’s a full-on, big-market staring contest.
Add it all up and Monday starts to look less like a prelude to a press conference and more like what it actually is: information-gathering. The Phillies will ask Bichette and his representatives what he wants. They’ll ask themselves what they’re willing to be. They’ll weigh the cost of punting on Realmuto, reshaping the infield, and finally untangling the Castellanos mess against the upside of dropping a .300 hitter with power into the middle of their lineup for most of the next decade.
Could they surprise everyone and thread every needle?
Add it all up and Monday starts to look less like a prelude to a press conference and more like what it actually is: information-gathering. The Phillies will ask Bichette and his representatives what he wants. They’ll ask themselves what they’re willing to be. They’ll weigh the cost of punting on Realmuto, reshaping the infield, and finally untangling the Castellanos mess against the upside of dropping a .300 hitter with power into the middle of their lineup for most of the next decade.
Could they surprise everyone and thread every needle?
With Dombrowski, you never rule out the big swing. But until the tax math changes, until the catcher question is answered, until Bohm and Castellanos have real destinations, a virtual meeting is just that - baseball’s winter version of a first date.
Interesting. Intriguing. Necessary.
Just don’t mistake it for a wedding rehearsal.
Interesting. Intriguing. Necessary.
Just don’t mistake it for a wedding rehearsal.
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