The New York Mets’ curious offseason took another turn when the club agreed to terms on a two-year, $40 million contract with infielder Jorge Polanco Dec. 13, The Athletic first reported.
Polanco, 32, is coming off two seasons with the Seattle Mariners, the latter a nice bounceback from a 2024 season in which he batted just .213 with a .651 OPS. In 2025, he upped the latter number to .821 while hitting 26 home runs and getting several big hits in the Mariners’ run to Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
Yet Polanco’s signing would create an immediate question in New York: Just where will he play?
The club traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo the Texas Rangers in exchange for defensively elite second baseman Marcus Semien. Brett Baty hit 18 home runs in 130 games and was worth 3.1 WAR at third base last season.
That leaves first base, where franchise icon Pete Alonso was not retained; he signed a $151 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. Polanco, a switch-hitter, can certainly find everyday at-bats between the infield positions – Mark Vientos presents a right-handed option at both corner positions – and designated hitter, even if he doesn’t fulfill an immediate need.
Polanco hit 26 home runs last season, which would be reputable production for a first baseman. Whether he can continue that pattern as he ages into his mid-30s is an open question.
Yet Mets club president David Stearns’ winter manuevers have indicated a club in transition, very much a work in progress. The losses of Alonso, Nimmo and closer Edwin Diaz indicate a reset of sorts, and that Stearns’ vision very likely won’t come into view until the winter is nearly complete.
Polanco’s signing is the next step toward putting that puzzle together – even if his acquisition inspires almost as many questions as it answers.