A former teammate said Bo Bichette clashed with Blue Jays coaches

The Toronto Blue Jays followed up their dramatic run to the 2025 World Series with a strong foray into the offseason free agent market. Dylan Cease, arguably the top starting pitcher in this year's class, signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Blue Jays in November. Durable reliever Tyler Rogers bolstered the Jays' bullpen in December. Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto signed a four-year, $60 million contract earlier this month. More news: Blue Jays Prospect Retires Immediately After First Season as Pitcher For weeks, the Blue Jays were lauded for their aggressive offseason. All along, however, one question lingered conspicuously: what about Bo Bichette? The 27-year-old infielder was an integral part of the Blue Jays' championship run. Bichette batted .311 with an .840 OPS in the regular season, then returned from an injury to hit .348 in seven World Series games. The New York Mets rewarded Bichette handsomely, signing him to a three-year, $126 million contract Tuesday. While the Philadelphia Phillies courted him aggressively, fans in Toronto were hoping Bichette would return to the team that took him in the second round of the 2016 MLB Draft. A local steakhouse even offered Bichette free steak for life. Besides the money, why didn't Bichette return to Toronto? Merrifield, who played alongside Bichette for parts of two seasons (2022-23) in Toronto, hinted at friction between Bichette and members of the team's coaching staff and front office as possible reasons for his departure. “Bo loves the Jays, loves the city, loves the fans there," Merrifield said. "I also know that there was some stuff along the way that happened with Bo and the coaching staff. Like any relationship, whether it’s with a co-worker, you’re going to have disagreements. You’re going to have to handle them certain ways. … There was some stuff that went on with Bo and the Jays, as far as the front office and the coaching staff, that tainted that relationship a little bit.” More news: Red Sox Lose Pitcher To Blue Jays on 2-Year Free Agent Contract: Report The Blue Jays' loss is the Mets' gain. Bichette will play third base in New York after spending his seven seasons in Toronto at shortstop. There are 126 million obvious reasons why Bichette might have been persuaded to change positions for a new team. Merrifield's memory suggests there might have been a couple more.