Marlins NL East Schedule Gets Tougher With Mets Making Big Free Agent Splash
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As expected, things are beginning to heat up when it comes to free agency. Just this week, some of the top free agents have found new homes.
On Wednesday, the Boston Red Sox landed left-handed pitcher Ranger Suarez, a move that will affect the Miami Marlins with the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. Late Thursday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers struck a deal to land outfielder Kyle Tucker. On Friday, another big free agent domino fell, and it greatly affects the Marlins.
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After losing out on Tucker, the Mets quickly pivoted to the next big bat on the free agent market when they agreed to a contract with infielder Bo Bichette on a three-year deal for $126 million. It will pay him $42 million a year. That means Miami will see him next season in four series, and it is a big move for New York.
Mets Sign Free Agent Bo Bichette
This has been a bizarre offseason for the Mets. They traded Brandon Nimmo to the Houston Astros for infielder Marcus Semien, which makes this signing even more interesting. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Bichette is going to play third base in New York.
How does this affect Miami? Well, this means that they are going to see a lot more of one of the top hitters in the American League before he suffered an injury in early September, which cost him most of the postseason run with the Toronto Blue Jays. Just how good was he in 2025 for the Blue Jays? Bichette slashed .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs.
This has been an offseason of change recently for the Marlins in terms of trades. After debating whether or not to trade some of their starting pitchers, the president of baseball operations, Peter Bendix, pulled the trigger on a pair of trades.
He sent Edward Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs and Ryan Weathers to the New York Yankees. Miami got a haul of prospects back combined in both deals.
That leaves Sandy Alcantara to headline what is still a good rotation, but the path to improving on their 2025 season and taking the next step to be a playoff team just got tougher with Bichette signing with the Mets. The Phillies were linked to him as well and could have landed him, but New York swooped in at the last minute and got him. Now he'll be facing the Marlins a lot in 2026 and beyond.
