Poll: Is Bo Bichette Or Jorge Polanco The Better Value For The Mets?
As part of their offseason overhaul, the Mets brought in Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco to bolster their infield. Polanco received a two-year, $40MM deal in December. Bichette, one of the top free agents, signed a three-year, $126MM pact in January with opt-outs after 2026 and 2027. Crucially, Bichette and Polanco will be playing new positions. The former will man the hot corner, while Polanco will split time between first base and DH.
Between the two, Bichette is the superior offensive talent. Apart from an injury-plagued 2024 season in which he only played 81 games, Bichette has been at least 20% better than average by wRC+ in every campaign since 2019. Last year, he tied for the 25th-lowest strikeout rate (14.5%) among 145 qualified hitters in the league. His overall line was .314/.357/.483, good for a 134 wRC+, the best full-season mark in his career.
Polanco is coming off his own career season. In 524 plate appearances with the Mariners, he hit .265/.326/.495 with a 132 wRC+ that nearly matched Bichette’s performance. Polanco also cut his strikeout rate in half, going from 29.2% in 2024 to 15.6% in 2025. His track record before 2025 was solid, if a step below Bichette. From 2019-24, Polanco could generally be counted on for 15-25% better-than-average offense, with 2020 (82 wRC+) and 2024 (93 wRC+) being exceptions.
Neither one of them is a strong defender. Bichette has exclusively played shortstop during the regular season, only venturing to second base during the 2025 World Series (and only because he was injured). His range graded out in just the first percentile in 2025, while Statcast took negative views of his arm strength and sprint speed as well. Overall, his glovework was valued at -12 Defensive Runs Saved and -13 Outs Above Average, the latter being a career-worst mark. It always seemed that he would move to a different position long-term, and now the Mets will slot him in at the hot corner. On the one hand, that makes sense given the acquisition of defensive stalwart Marcus Semien to man the keystone. However, it is questionable in that Bichette typically struggles on balls in play from right-handed hitters, which he will see in abundance at third base.
Meanwhile, Polanco began his career as a shortstop but has only played second and third base since the start of 2023. In 2024, he was worth -1 DRS and -10 OAA as a full-time second baseman. In 2025, he combined for -4 DRS and -4 OAA between second and third base, although he only played 330 1/3 defensive innings, with the Mariners deploying him as a DH in 88 out of 138 games. Like Bichette, Polanco is viewed negatively by Statcast for his range and arm strength, although the latter won’t matter as much at the cold corner. Furthermore, whereas Bichette struggles with balls in play from right-handed hitters, the opposite is true for Polanco. From 2024-25, he was worth -2 OAA on balls in play from righties, compared to -12 OAA on balls in play from lefties. Just as Bichette will be more exposed to right-handed contact at third, Polanco will be exposed to contact from lefties at the cold corner.
The question of which player is the better value to the Mets may come down to finances. While the Mets are well-positioned to take on expensive contracts, the current front office under president of baseball operations David Stearns shows a clear preference for short-term deals. Bichette can opt-out after 2026, so there’s a chance his deal turns into a one-year, $47MM pact ($42MM AAV plus a $5MM opt-out bonus). On the one hand, that gives the team long-term flexibility, but it could also be a lot for someone who is already not a strong defender and who is now learning a new position.
Polanco’s deal does not contain opt-outs, so the Mets are on the hook for $40MM in guaranteed money through 2027. He is half as expensive as Bichette, but his offense has more risk in that he ran a worse-than-average strikeout rate as recently as 2024. Should Polanco regress in that area, his overall output may not be up to par with the typical first baseman. His walk rate has also fallen year-over-year since 2022, whereas Bichette’s has stayed relatively constant (albeit below-average). In addition, Polanco is four years older than Bichette and more likely to decline as he plays into his 30s.
What do MLBTR readers think? Does Bichette’s offense justify his high AAV, even with the defensive questions at third base? Will Polanco repeat last year’s performance and take advantage of a less demanding position? Which one provides the better value at their current salary? Let us know in the poll.
Is Bo Bichette or Jorge Polanco the better value for the Mets?
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Mets Claim Richard Lovelady
The Mets announced that left-hander Richard Lovelady has been claimed off waivers from the Nationals. Right-hander Justin Hagenman was placed on New York’s 60-day injured list in the corresponding move, as Hagenman will now miss the first two months of the season recovering from a rib fracture.
It’s a quick return to Queens for Lovelady, who was designated for assignment by the Mets in late January and then claimed by the Nationals. After a little over a month in Washington’s spring camp, Lovelady was DFA’ed again since the Nats needed roster space for the newly-signed Zack Littell.
Lovelady broke into the majors with the Royals in 2019, and he spent his first three big league seasons in Kansas City before a Tommy John surgery cost him the entirety of the 2022 season. Since recovering from his surgery, Lovelady has become a regular on the transactions list, as he has bounced around to multiple clubs in a series of trades, waiver claims, signings and re-signings. Since the start of the 2023 campaign, Lovelady has a 5.19 ERA, 20.7% strikeout rate, and 9.0% walk rate over 69 1/3 innings with five different teams at the Major League level.
This nomadic stretch includes multiple stints with the Mets over the last year, beginning last June when New York signed Lovelady after he’d opted out of a minor league contract with the Twins. Lovelady ended up posting a 6.30 ERA over 10 innings with the Amazins, while also being DFA’ed and outrighted three different times. The southpaw refused the first of those outrights and elected free agency, but soon re-signed with the Mets.
Lovelady has been out of minor league options following the 2024 season, which is why he has been ping-ponged around without much roster security. While the Mets clearly see enough in Lovelady to keep re-acquiring him, he is likely viewed as no more than left-handed bullpen depth, and a possible candidate for another DFA if New York needs roster space. Lovelady is signed for 2026 on a split contract that he inked with the Mets in October, and is guaranteed a $350K salary in the minors and $1MM in the majors.
Hagenman was a 23rd-round pick for the Dodgers in the 2018 draft, and signing with the Mets last offseason helped pave the way for the righty to make his MLB debut in 2025 as part of the Mets’ revolving door of pitchers. Hagenman posted a 4.56 ERA across his first 23 2/3 innings in the Show, with an impressive 23 strikeouts against only two walks but also four homers allowed.
After spending most of his minor league career in a strict relief role, Hagenman has been used more as a swingman in Boston and New York’s Triple-A teams over the last two years. He was viewed as a longshot candidate to make the Mets’ Opening Day roster anyway, but this rib injury will now heavily delay Hagenman’s work even at Triple-A Syracuse. One minor silver lining is that the placement on the big league 60-day IL will earn Hagenman some Major League service time.
Which Top Prospects Could Be On 2026 Opening Day Rosters?
In the not-too-distant past, it was relatively rare for organizations to break camp with their very best prospects on the roster. It still happened at times, but MLB's service time structure was set up such that keeping a top prospect in the minors for even two weeks to begin the season effectively ensured that he'd be controllable for seven years rather than the standard six. There were obvious exceptions to this thinking -- Atlanta fans surely remember Jason Heyward breaking camp as a 20-year-old and belting a three-run homer on Opening Day -- but there were far more cases of keeping a player in the minors to buy the extra year. Kris Bryant, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer and others were all called to the majors just when they'd spent enough time in the minors to give their clubs an extra year of control. There was nothing inherently nefarious about the gambit; teams were operating within the collectively bargained rules and making business decisions.
The 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement sought to implement some real incentives for teams to bring their best players north to begin the season, however, and by and large they've been effective. With the Prospect Promotion Incentives (PPI), any prospect who appears on two recognized top-100 lists and is called up early enough to earn a full service year can net his team a bonus draft pick, either in that season's Rookie of the Year voting or in MVP/Cy Young voting over the next three seasons.
There's also a disincentive to holding a player down. For those same qualified top prospects, a top-two finish in either league's Rookie of the Year voting will net a full year of major league service time, regardless of when they were called up. Said prospects still have around 90% of a season in such instances, which is more than enough time to turn in a ROY-worthy performance.
Teams now know that holding a player down for 15 days or so might lead to him getting a full year of service anyhow and comes with the disadvantage of rendering that player ineligible for future PPI picks. As such, it's become increasingly common for touted prospects to break camp on their teams' rosters.
With that in mind, and with fewer than two weeks to go until Opening Day, it seems worth running through a slate of top prospects who could factor into their teams' Opening Day plans.
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Mets Notes: Tong, Lindor
The Mets optioned right-hander Jonah Tong to Triple-A Syracuse this afternoon. The touted prospect was always a long shot to break camp, as he entered the spring no higher than seventh on the rotation depth chart.
Tong, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, debuted last August. He got the call roughly two weeks after the Mets brought up Nolan McLean. While the latter dazzled over his first eight starts, Tong had a rockier debut showing. He surrendered 20 runs over his first 18 2/3 innings. Tong had two solid starts but was hit hard in his other three outings.
McLean slots behind Freddy Peralta as the highest-upside arms in Carlos Mendoza’s rotation. Kodai Senga and David Peterson are back despite coming up in some offseason trade speculation. Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes also have spots in what’ll probably be a six-man rotation.
Tong will continue to build up in Triple-A as injury insurance. He made one start in MLB camp, allowing three runs across 2 2/3 innings. Tong has only made two career starts at the Triple-A level. He dominated Double-A opposition to a 1.59 ERA with a 41% strikeout percentage over 20 starts earlier in the season.
In another bit of Mets news, Francisco Lindor played four innings during a minor league Spring Training game on Tuesday. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relayed the news, noting that the minor league camp allowed Lindor to work solely as a defensive player without needing to bat. Lindor, who is exactly one month removed from sustaining a hamate fracture in his left wrist, has been hitting in the batting cage but isn’t ready to bat in games. He has maintained optimism he’ll be available for Opening Day, which is a little over two weeks away.
Offseason In Review: New York Mets
The Mets responded to a disappointing 2025 season by undergoing a major roster overhaul for 2026, all while sticking to the front office’s preference of avoiding long-term commitments.
Major League Signings
- IF Bo Bichette: Three years, $126MM (includes opt-outs after each season)
- RHP Devin Williams: Three years, $51MM (includes $6MM signing bonus, $15MM in deferrals)
- IF Jorge Polanco: Two years, $40MM
- RHP Luke Weaver: Two years, $22MM
- RHP Luis García: One year, $1.75MM
- OF MJ Melendez: Split deal with $1.5MM salary in majors (can be controlled beyond 2026 via arbitration)
2026 spending (not including Melendez): $86.75MM
Total spending (not including Melendez): $240.75MM
Trades and Claims
- Acquired RHP Joey Gerber from Rays for cash considerations
- Claimed OF Ji Hwan Bae from Pirates (later outrighted)
- Claimed LHP José Castillo from Orioles (later non-tendered and signed in NPB)
- Acquired 2B Marcus Semien from the Rangers for OF Brandon Nimmo
- Claimed RHP Cooper Criswell from Red Sox (later traded to Mariners for cash)
- Claimed C Drew Romo from Orioles (later lost on waivers to White Sox)
- Acquired RHP Yordan Rodriguez from A’s for IF/OF Jeff McNeil and cash considerations
- Acquired $1.5MM in international bonus pool space from Guardians for LHP Franklin Gomez
- Claimed IF Tsung-Che Cheng from Rays (later lost on waivers to Nationals)
- Acquired OF Luis Robert Jr. from White Sox for IF/OF Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley
- Acquired RHP Freddy Peralta and RHP Tobias Myers from Brewers for RHP Brandon Sproat and IF/OF Jett Williams
- Acquired IF/OF Vidal Bruján from Twins for cash considerations
- Acquired LHP Bryan Hudson from White Sox for cash considerations
- Claimed C Ben Rortvedt from Dodgers
Option Decisions
- RHP Edwin Díaz opted out of two years and $38MM left on previous deal
- 1B Pete Alonso declined $24MM player option
- Frankie Montas exercised $17MM player option (later released)
- LHP A.J. Minter exercised $11MM player option
- Team exercised $4.75MM club option on LHP Brooks Raley
- Team declined $2MM club option on RHP Drew Smith
Notable Minor League Signings
- Joe Jacques, Jose Rojas, Robert Stock, Nick Burdi, Carl Edwards Jr., Daniel Duarte, Cristian Pache, Kevin Herget, Mike Baumann, Christian Arroyo, Craig Kimbrel, Grae Kessinger, Austin Barnes, Mike Tauchman
Extensions
- None
Notable Losses
- Edwin Díaz, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Cedric Mullins, Tyler Rogers, Griffin Canning, Gregory Soto, Starling Marte, Ryan Helsley, Ryne Stanek, Luisangel Acuña, Brandon Sproat, Jett Williams, Max Kranick (still unsigned), Frankie Montas (still unsigned but will miss 2026 season), Jesse Winker (still unsigned), Jose Siri, Nick Madrigal, Drew Smith, Danny Young (non-tendered)
The 2025 season was a huge disappointment for the Mets. They had just gone to the NLCS the year before. They added Juan Soto in the offseason. They had every expectation of being one of the best teams in the league and got out to a good start. On June 12th, they had a 5.5 game lead over the Phillies in the National League East. It was all downhill from there. They scuffled through the end of the season, going 21-32 in August and September. They finished 83-79, the same record as the Reds. Cincinnati got the final N.L. Wild Card spot via tiebreaker.
In the clubhouse after the final game of the regular season, just minutes after being eliminated, first baseman Pete Alonso told members of the press he would be opting out of his contract. He had almost departed the prior offseason, only returning after lingering unsigned into February. Edwin Díaz would undoubtedly be opting out as well. A few days after Alonso’s forthright comments, it was reported that the Mets were planning a big shakeup of the coaching staff. Rumors of clubhouse discord would eventually seep out.
It seemed like big changes were possible as the club looked to get in position for a better campaign in 2026. It didn’t take long for the dominoes to fall. There were early offseason trade rumors surrounding longtime Mets like Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil. It wasn’t immediately clear how to take those rumors, especially since Nimmo had been with the club since 2011 and had a full no-trade clause on his deal.
Just three weeks into the offseason, Nimmo was traded to the Rangers for Marcus Semien in a rare one-for-one swap of veterans on big contracts. Nimmo would later say he approved the trade essentially because it seemed like the Rangers wanted him more than the Mets did.
For the Mets, the trade checked a few boxes. On the financial side of things, they actually took on more money in the short term. Nimmo is making $20.25MM in each season of the rest of his deal, Semien $26MM for the next two years and then $20MM in the final season. But Nimmo’s deal still has five years left on it, compared to Semien’s three.
Under president of baseball operations David Stearns, the Mets have shown a preference for higher average annual values on shorter deals. Apart from the Soto pact, which was a special case due to his youth, Stearns hasn’t signed anyone to a deal longer than three years since taking over as the club’s front office leader. That preference was clearly at play in the 2025-26 offseason, with the Nimmo/Semien swap fitting the pattern.
It also shored up the club’s defense, something that was a stated goal. Nimmo was once a center fielder but had largely been in left field in 2024 and 2025, reducing some of his value. Semien, despite being his mid-30s, continues to be a reliably above average second baseman in terms of his defense.
More changes came the following month. On December 1st, it was reported that the Mets would be signing reliever Devin Williams to a three-year, $51MM deal. Many felt that was a lot of money for a guy who’d just posted a 4.79 earned run average, but it’s actually somewhat of a buy-low situation.
Williams was one of the most dominant relievers in baseball prior to his 2025 season in the Bronx. He went into that campaign with a career ERA of 1.83. The ERA spike with the Yanks seemed fluky since his stuff appeared to be the same and he still racked up strikeouts and ground balls. His 55.2% strand rate on the year was bizarrely low, more than 20 percentage points below the rest of his career. ERA estimators like his 2.68 FIP and 2.67 SIERA thought he was pretty close to his previous self. Stearns, who was familiar with Williams from their time together in Milwaukee, is betting that 2025 was indeed a fluke.
That didn’t necessarily close the door on a Díaz reunion. The Mets have almost no real budgetary limitations and certainly had room in the bullpen for two elite relievers. However, it was reported on December 9th that Díaz would be signing with the Dodgers.
That seemed to be a bit of an unusual situation. The three-year, $69MM sticker price was a bit below expectations. The Mets had offered him $66MM over three years, which was arguably a better offer because it reportedly had less deferred money compared to the Dodger deal. Some reports said the Mets were willing to go higher but were a bit caught off-guard when he quickly accepted the offer from Los Angeles. Later reports also said Atlanta put a five-year offer out to Díaz. The dollar value of that offer was not revealed but perhaps Díaz just wanted to join the World Series champs and jumped at the chance.
Regardless of the reasons, the Mets were down another longtime franchise staple. He would not be the last. The very next day, on December 10th, it was reported that Alonso would be joining the Orioles on a five-year, $155MM deal. The Mets never seemed to interested in making a long-term investment in their franchise home run leader. It appeared they didn’t want to sign him to anything longer than three years, so he moved on.
Part of the reason the Mets seemed fine with letting Alonso walk is that, as mentioned, improving their defense was a priority this winter. Alonso has never received especially strong grades for his first base defense. Now that he’s 31 years old, he’s more likely to get worse over time than to suddenly improve.
That’s a sensible enough logic in a vacuum, but things got a little strange a few days later when the Mets pivoted to Jorge Polanco on a two-year, $40MM deal. The plan seems to be for Polanco to play a decent amount of first base, though he could also serve as the designated hitter and occasionally play second or third.
Polanco technically has experience playing first base in the big leagues but in the most limited way possible. On April 6th of 2025, Mariners right fielder Víctor Robles injured himself on a catch, recording the second out in the bottom of the ninth inning of a 4-4 game against the Giants. The Mariners removed Robles and shuffled their defenders around, putting Polanco at first. The Giants walked it off on the next pitch with a single to the outfield. That’s the extent of Polanco’s big league experience as a first baseman: one pitch, without having to make a play.
Polanco is coming off a great season at the plate, having hit 26 home runs with a .265/.326/.495 batting line, but there’s some risk. Recurring knee problems have been an issue for him in recent years. He played fewer than 120 games in each season from 2022 to 2024. His offense was below par in the final of those three, which allowed the Mariners to re-sign him for just one guaranteed year and $7.75MM. While he bounced back at the plate, he was almost exclusively a designated hitter in the first half. He gradually played more second base as the season went along but still served as the DH quite a bit.
Though Alonso’s defense was never ideal, his availability was incredible. He never started fewer than 133 games at first in any full season with the Mets. Suddenly pivoting to a guy with almost no experience at the position and notable injury concerns is a curious choice. Polanco can probably handle it, but it speaks to the club’s commitment to their desire for avoiding long-term contractual pitfalls.
Adding Polanco also pushed McNeil further out the door. He had already been in trade rumors, and the Semien acquisition blocked him from the position at which he has spent the most time. He was flipped to the Athletics just before the holidays in what was essentially a salary dump deal. Even though the Mets ate some money in the swap, the A’s took on $10MM of what McNeil is owed this year. Considering the Mets pay a 110% tax rate, that saved them more than $20MM.
Around the same time, they also made another bullpen addition, getting Luke Weaver for $22MM over two years. Weaver’s 2025 didn’t end in strong fashion, but he’s nonetheless coming off a strong two-year run with the Yankees. Over 2024 and 2025, he posted a 3.21 ERA over 148 2/3 innings, striking out 29.5% of opponents and walking just 7.8%. He’s not a replacement for Díaz, but he can pair with Williams for a strong one-two punch at the back of the bullpen.
Going into the holidays, the Mets had been busy but were also left in a weird spot, having seemingly made more subtractions than additions. At second base, they had effectively swapped in Semien for McNeil, with Polanco replacing Alonso at first. But trading Nimmo left a hole in the outfield which had not been filled.
In early January, there were still options. The top two free agent outfielders, Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger, remained unsigned. The Mets were connected to both. They made a strong run at Tucker, once again in alignment with the preference for staying short term. They reportedly offered him a huge $220MM deal over four years, with a couple of opt-outs. The massive $55MM average annual value would have led to a tax bill of over $60.5MM for the Mets, meaning they were willing to shell out almost $120MM annually to get Tucker aboard.
Unfortunately, the Dodgers had similar thinking and went to $240MM over four, so he slipped through the Mets’ fingers. The Mets could have then pivoted to Bellinger but went in a different direction. They found another player willing to opt for a short-term deal with a juiced AAV, giving Bo Bichette a three-year deal worth $126MM, or $42MM per year. Factoring in the tax bill, that’s almost $90MM annually the Mets are sending out. There are opt-outs after each season, so perhaps Bichette will only be around for one year, but it’s a big commitment.
Bichette has been a shortstop for the majority of his career but seems unlikely to spend much more time there going forward. His defensive grades have never been terribly strong. Late in 2025, a knee injury put him on the shelf for the end of the season and the beginning of the playoffs. He was back with the Blue Jays for the World Series but clearly not still 100% healthy. He spent some time as the DH and also limped out to second base a few times.
The Mets had already committed themselves to a middle infield of Francisco Lindor at short and Semien at second. The plan is to move Bichette to third, a position where he has no experience and will have to learn it on the fly. That’s a gamble the Mets are willing to take in order to get Bichette’s bat into the lineup.
That will seemingly push Brett Baty into a super utility role where he bounces around the infield and maybe the outfield corners as well. Mark Vientos is in a somewhat similar spot but his 2025 struggles should put him a bit lower on the depth chart. He’ll be trying to hit his way back into the mix, though he has a narrower path since he’s only really capable of playing the infield corners. The Mets don’t really have a strict DH, so it’s possible for Baty or Vientos to earn more at-bats, perhaps with Polanco moving more towards a full-time DH role.
The Bichette addition still left them with their outfield unaddressed but they quickly checked that box. Just a few days later, they pulled the trigger on a trade for Luis Robert Jr.. To get him to Queens, they took on the entirety of his $20MM salary and will have to pay taxes on that as well. They also parted with some talent, sending utility player Luisangel Acuña and prospect Truman Pauley to the White Sox. Acuña has shown the potential to be a solid bench piece, but the additions of Semien, Polanco and Bichette to the infield made him less necessary. He’s also out of options and surely wouldn’t have gotten through waivers unclaimed.
Robert has the potential to be an excellent upgrade to the Mets outfield but is nowhere near a guarantee. He showed a huge ceiling in 2023, hitting 38 home runs and stealing 20 bases while providing strong center field defense. But in 2024 and 2025, he was on and off the injured list, being capped at 100 games in the former and 110 in the latter. His offense was subpar in both campaigns. The speed and defense give him a nice floor, in a sense, but he has to be on the field to provide that floor.
With Nimmo gone, Soto will be moving from right field to left field. Robert will take over in center. In right field, the Mets wanted to leave a path open for prospect Carson Benge but brought in some contingency plans. They already had Tyrone Taylor on the roster. Late in the winter, they added MJ Melendez on a split deal and Mike Tauchman on a minor league pact. If Benge doesn’t look ready by the end of spring, they have some ways to pivot.
Amid all of this shuffling on the position player side and in the bullpen, the rotation had largely been ignored for most of the winter. The Mets went into the offseason with a starting group consisting of Nolan McLean, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and David Peterson. Just behind that group were optionable minor leaguers like Brandon Sproat, Jonah Tong and Christian Scott.
It was a good group but one perhaps lacking an ace-like arm at the front. McLean showed the potential for that late in 2025 but he was only able to make eight starts before the winter arrived. The Mets were reportedly looking for an upgrade but (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) wanted to avoid long-term free agent deals.
They were connected to some of those free agents, like Framber Valdez and Ranger Suárez, but always seemed more likely to make a big splash on the trade market. Rumors linked them to Joe Ryan, Nick Pivetta, and Edward Cabrera but they were able to land Freddy Peralta from the Brewers. They sent Sproat and prospect Jett Williams to Milwaukee to get Peralta and Tobias Myers.
Peralta is a very sensible fit for the Mets. Stearns is plenty familiar with him; he already acquired Peralta and extended him when he was running the Brewers. Peralta’s one year of club control and $8MM salary are appealing for any club, but they fit well for the Mets and their tax situation.
What remains to be seen is if Stearns can sign Peralta to another extension. He has access to bigger payrolls with the Mets than he did with the Brewers but has really tried to limit the length of deals. Peralta is well positioned to cash in as a free agent next winter and is seemingly angling for the kind of long-term deal the Mets don’t like.
It was a busy offseason for the Mets. They overhauled the roster, bringing in a lot of new faces while letting some of the familiar ones go. The lineup and rotation look really strong. But by sticking to his preferences in terms of contract length, Stearns has been forced to make some compromises. The Mets wanted to improve the defense but are going into the season projecting to have third and first base manned by guys with effectively no experience there. They’ve added an injury-prone center fielder and a 35-year-old second baseman. They made some bullpen additions but may not have really improved it since they lost one of the best closers in the league.
Does it all add up to a better team or have they mostly just shuffled the deck? Give your ranking of the offseason in the poll below.
How would you grade the Mets' offseason?
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Robert Stock Recommended For Thoracic Outlet Syndrome Surgery
Mets right-hander Robert Stock has been recommended for surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome, Stock told reporters (including Jon Heyman of the New York Post) this morning. Heyman adds that Stock indicated he’s suffering from the arterial TOS, and that he could potentially pitch before the end of the year. Stock was in camp with the Mets on a non-roster invite but is now facing a lengthy absence.
Stock, 36, has appeared in parts of five MLB seasons to this point in his career. A second-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2009, he made a strong impression with the Padres in 2018, his first season as a big leaguer. He posted a 2.50 ERA in 39 2/3 innings of work that year, but unfortunately he’s struggled at the big league level since then. In just 35 2/3 major league frames since, Stock sports a 7.57 ERA with nearly as many walks (31) as strikeouts (39). Stock did not appear in the majors from 2022-2024, instead bouncing between the KBO, the minor leagues, and independent leagues in both the United States and Mexico. In 2025, he returned to affiliated ball with the Red Sox. While he made just two abbreviated appearance in the majors, he pitched decently at Triple-A Worcester with a 3.92 ERA in 85 innings as a swing man.
That led Stock to sign a minor league deal with the Mets headed into 2026, and he figured to be a versatile depth option for the club’s pitching staff headed into the year. He’s pitched well so far this spring, including a strong three-inning appearance against the Marlins while preparing to pitch for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic. Unfortunately, that outing ended with him reporting discomfort in his shoulder. That led to the MRI which ultimately revealed he was suffering from TOS. The specific kind of TOS Stock is suffering from is arterial TOS, the rarest form of the disorder. While baseball fans have become increasingly familiar with TOS in recent years, they’re likely to be more familiar with neurogenic TOS (the form of the disorder that players such as Stephen Strasburg and Chris Archer suffered from) and venous TOS, which Phillies star Zack Wheeler is currently working his way back from after being sidelined late last year by the disorder.
Arterial TOS is far less common than the other two versions, and its impacts on baseball players are far less widely understood; a 2024 study published in the American journal of sports medicine (link via NIH.gov) that looked at all 52 players who underwent surgical treatment for TOS between 2010 and 2017 notes that just one of those 52 players was suffering from arterial TOS. An article from Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com last month notes that arterial TOS can cause a feeling of coldness in the hand or even finger gangrene. Castrovince’s article notes that a return to play timeline of between nine and ten months is typical for pitchers who undergo surgery to correct TOS, though that can depend on the severity and form of TOS the player is facing. Stock’s hopes for his timeline are significantly more optimistic than that, as even a September return would be a turnaround of just six months.
Whether Stock is able to make it back to the mound this year or not, the Mets are fairly well equipped to handle losing him as a depth piece. Justin Hagenman, Christian Scott, and Jonathan Pintaro are all depth options for the rotation already on the 40-man roster, and that’s before considering top prospect Jonah Tong. As for the bullpen, the Mets have a deep group of non-roster invitees headlined by Craig Kimbrel, Adbert Alzolay, and Kevin Herget among others.
Peralta Seeking “Seven Or Eight” Years In Extension Talks
The Mets paid a fairly significant prospect price to acquire ace Freddy Peralta from Milwaukee in January. A bargain $8MM salary was a big part of his trade value. The Mets surely have some interest in keeping the impending free agent in Queens at what would be significantly higher prices beyond this year.
Although Peralta has expressed openness to extension talks, he’s targeting the kind of contract which the Mets have mostly avoided under president of baseball operations David Stearns. Peralta told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic earlier this week that he was looking for a long-term deal. He was more specific on Friday, telling Jon Heyman of The New York Post he’s seeking “seven or eight years.”
It’d be surprising if the Mets go to that length, at least before Peralta hits the open market. As shown on MLBTR’s Contract Tracker (available to Front Office subscribers), the Mets haven’t signed a pitcher for more than three years since Stearns was hired in 2023.
Last winter’s three-year, $75MM deal with Sean Manaea is their only pitching contract beyond two seasons. They reportedly made a 12-year offer to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but he was an ace coming over from Japan at age 25. It has been a similar setup on the position player side. They were willing to do essentially whatever it took to sign Juan Soto, but they’ve otherwise pursued short-term deals at huge annual rates with their free agent targets.
Stearns has traded for Peralta twice and signed him to a bargain early-career extension when he was running baseball operations in Milwaukee. He understandably loves the player and clearly appreciates what he brings to the clubhouse.
That said, Peralta would be a more typical high-end free agent than a nearly unique case like Soto or Yamamoto. He turns 30 in June, so the first year of an extension or free agent deal would be his age-31 season. He’s an excellent pitcher but is a clear notch below the likes of Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes as the best arms in MLB.
Last season’s fifth-place Cy Young finish was the first time in Peralta’s career that he appeared on ballots. He’s coming off a career-low 2.70 earned run average through 176 2/3 innings. He ranked 11th among starters (minimum 120 innings) with a 28.2% strikeout rate. Peralta hasn’t missed a start in three seasons and ranks 15th in innings pitched during that time.
There’s some recent precedent for a seven-plus year deal with that profile. Aaron Nola commanded seven years and $175MM from the Phillies at the same age in 2023. Nola was extremely durable but didn’t throw as hard as Peralta does and had started to struggle with the home run ball.
Dylan Cease pulled seven years and $210MM (albeit with deferrals dropping the actual value closer to $185MM) from the Blue Jays last offseason. Cease throws a little harder and misses a few more bats than Peralta does, but his start to start efficiency was lacking. Max Fried is the only pitcher in his 30s to sign for eight years within the past decade. He got to $218MM from the Yankees as a lefty with plus stuff who hadn’t allowed an ERA higher than 3.25 in any of the five seasons preceding free agency.
Peralta fits in that group on talent. The difference between his current situation and the aforementioned trio is that he’s still a year away from the open market. Walk year extensions for Luis Castillo and José Berríos landed south of $150MM. Peralta presumably isn’t looking for an annual value in the low $20MM range simply to stretch the length of the contract.
Rosenthal reported on Monday that the sides had yet to seriously broach an extension. They’ll likely have those conversations within the three weeks leading up to the start of the regular season. Whether there’s a long-term deal in place or not, Peralta will make his team debut on Opening Day. Skipper Carlos Mendoza made that unsurprising announcement last week. They’ll host the Pirates (who’ll surely turn the ball to Skenes) in a marquee pitching matchup.
Mets Notes: Baty, Lindor, Scott, Minter, Stock
The Mets’ offseason signing of Bo Bichette displaced third baseman Brett Baty, and he’ll now take on a super utility role in Queens, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. Baty is seeing work in the outfield and at first base this spring. His experience at the hot corner and at second base makes him a viable option at both those positions, too, should Bichette or Marcus Semien need a breather or a trip to the injured list at any point.
“It’s a valuable role,” manager Carlos Mendoza tells DiComo. “We’ve been pretty honest with him. He is on board. There are going to be at-bats for him in a lot of different positions. He could play third, second and first, and now the outfield is in play.”
While Baty might not have a set position, his 2025 breakout should put him in good position to be in the lineup more often than not. The former first-round pick and top prospect shook off a terrible start to last season and finished out the year with a solid .254/.313/.435 batting line (111 wRC+) and 18 home runs. From mid-May through season’s end — a span of 370 plate appearances — Baty delivered a .266/.327/.454 batting line with 17 of his 18 long balls.
Elsewhere in Mets camp, the team is still holding out hope that star shortstop Francisco Lindor, who suffered a left hamate fracture early in camp, won’t miss much time — if he misses any at all. Lindor took batting practice yesterday for the first time since his injury, and he felt well enough after the fact to tell Jon Heyman of the New York Post he’s confident in his chances of being on the Opening Day roster.
“One hundred percent, I think I can make it for Opening Day,” said Lindor. “…We’re checking the boxes along the way.”
Lindor’s injury first came to light on Feb. 10. A day later, the Mets confirmed that he’d undergo surgery to address the issue. The team originally projected a six-week recovery, and Lindor’s surgery came 43 days prior to Opening Day. In addition to batting practice, Lindor also began playing catch this week and has yet to show any ill effects.
The recovery period on hamate fractures tends to range from four weeks on the short end to eight weeks on the longer end. Based on how things are progressing, it seems there’s reason for cautious optimism among Mets fans that the five-time All-Star and 2024 National League MVP runner-up will be in the lineup when new ace Freddy Peralta and the Mets host the Pirates and presumptive Opening Day starter Paul Skenes on March 26.
The Mets’ pitching staff is also navigating some injuries. Former top prospect Christian Scott, now 17 months removed from the 2024 Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2025 season, hit 96 mph and tossed 48 pitches through 2 2/3 frames in an exhibition against Israel’s WBC team this week. Mendoza told the Post’s Dan Martin that the outing was “impressive, specifically touting the righty’s command in a walk-free return to the mound.
Scott, now 26 years old, made his big league debut in 2024 and posted a 4.56 ERA with 19.8% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate in his first taste of major league action. He’d previously tossed 42 1/3 innings with a 2.76 ERA, 33.5% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate at the Triple-A level. There’s no opening in the Mets’ rotation for him with Peralta, Nolan McLean, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea all in the fold, but Scott will be a pivotal depth arm and one of the first names called if the Mets run into health troubles on their big league staff.
Left-handed reliever A.J. Minter, whose 2025 season ended in May due to lat surgery, pitched in a minor league game on a back field this week, Martin adds. It’s Minter’s first time back in a game setting since last year’s surgery. Previous indications have been that Minter could return at some point in May, but Mendoza indicated to Martin that late April is on the table for a possible return.
Minter signed a two-year, $22MM deal with the Mets last winter and got out to a terrific start for them. In 11 innings, he held opponents to two runs (1.64 ERA) on six hits and five walks with 14 punchouts. The 32-year-old southpaw has had his injury troubles over the years, but from 2020-25 he’s notched a sharp 2.80 earned run average with a 30% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 254 innings between the Braves and Mets.
In one other note related to the Mets, Tim Britton of The Athletic provides an update on non-roster invitee Robert Stock. The righty was recently with Team Israel for the World Baseball Classic but suffered some shoulder discomfort. He is out of the WBC and will be going for an MRI.
Poll: Will Carson Benge Break Camp With The Mets?
The Mets overhauled their offense this past winter, and most of the players they shipped out have been swapped out for new faces. They weren’t traded for one another, but Marcus Semien is taking Jeff McNeil‘s spot at second base. Pete Alonso is an Oriole, and Jorge Polanco will take up plenty of the first base reps in his absence (although new third baseman Bo Bichette is arguably more of a direct replacement for Alonso’s big right-handed bat). One player who wasn’t directly replaced, however, is left fielder Brandon Nimmo.
After Nimmo was dealt to the Rangers to land Semien, the Mets seemed like the most logical landing spot for star outfielder Kyle Tucker. The Mets pursued him, but Tucker ended up going to the Dodgers. The Mets quickly pivoted to signing Bichette to fill out the middle of their lineup. A trade for Luis Robert Jr. patched up the existing hole the club had in center following Cedric Mullins‘ departure, but that still left a vacancy in an outfield corner. That position has more or less remained unfilled. Mike Tauchman (minor league deal) and MJ Melendez (split big league deal) signed as free agents, but the Mets are planning to give top prospect Carson Benge an opportunity to earn the big league job.
After Tucker and Cody Bellinger came off the market, there weren’t many surefire impact outfielders available. Benge could wind up being more productive than someone like Harrison Bader or Mike Yastrzemski, so it made little sense to block him by signing a player of that caliber to a multi-year deal. Benge is a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport who reached Triple-A near the end of his 2025 campaign. Plenty of other top prospects, including Konnor Griffin of the Pirates, JJ Wetherholt of the Cardinals, Justin Crawford of the Phillies, and Bryce Eldridge of the Giants stand a strong chance of making their organization’s big league roster out of Spring Training despite little to no MLB experience.
Does Benge fall into that category as well? There’s little doubt that the team views him as a long-term option, but he hasn’t exactly forced the issue with his minor league output. Benge played in 24 Triple-A games late last year but slashed only .178/.272/.311. It’s a sample of just 103 plate appearances, of course, and his work at both High-A (.302/.417/.480 in 271 plate appearances) and Double-A (.317/.407/.571 in 145 plate appearances) earlier in the year showed how electric his bat could be. Benge is out to a 4-for-14 start this spring.
There’s some competition in camp. The aforementioned Melendez never found his footing in the majors with Kansas City but long ranked as a top prospect. He’s a career .257/.340/.496 hitter with 35 home runs in 173 Triple-A games. He’s homered twice and added a double in 11 spring plate appearances.
Tauchman, a 35-year-old veteran, provides a low-cost alternative with a steady big league track record. He split time between right field and DH for the White Sox last year after spending two seasons as a part-time outfielder for the Cubs. Over the past three seasons, he’s slashed .255/.359/.381 with a wRC+ of 111, balancing a 21.3% strikeout rate against a strong 13.0% walk rate. Tauchman’s first nine plate appearances this spring have produced a double and a homer.
We’re still about three weeks out from Opening Day, which provides Benge with plenty of time to show himself to be MLB capable, or for Tauchman to cool off. There are plenty of aspects to consider with the Benge decision. Sending him to Triple-A could allow him more seasoning after struggling there late last year and could buy the Mets an extra year of club control. Breaking camp with Benge on the roster could open the Mets up to some future draft considerations via MLB’s prospect promotion incentives.
What do MLBTR readers think? Will the Mets commit to Benge as their opening day right fielder, or will they go for another option like Tauchman or Melendez? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will start in right field for the Mets on Opening Day 2026?
Latest On Mets, Freddy Peralta
The Mets and right-hander Freddy Peralta still haven’t had any serious extension talks, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The report suggests the talks will likely ramp up at some point but the two sides will likely have different priorities. President of baseball operations David Stearns has shown a preference for short-term agreements with pitchers but Peralta tells Rosenthal he would prefer to sign a long-term pact.
Almost as soon as the Mets acquired Peralta in January, speculation began about the club potentially signing him to an extension. Stearns already traded for and extended Peralta once, when he was with the Brewers. Now Peralta is just one season away from that extension ending, as he’s slated for free agency after the 2026 campaign.
Despite the logic, it was quickly reported after the trade that the Mets wouldn’t be rushing anything. They planned to let Peralta get comfortable with his new club for a while. That means it’s not really too surprising that the Mets haven’t yet made a hard push. Some players prefer not to negotiate contracts during the season, though it’s unclear if Peralta has any such preferences.
Whenever talks do get more serious, it’s notable that Peralta and the Mets are potentially starting out with different goals. “I would prefer to go long and make sure I’m going to be in the place where I want to finish my career,” Peralta says to Rosenthal.
That’s in contrast with the general approach of Stearns as a baseball operations leader. As shown in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker, he has avoided long-term deals for pitchers, both during his time with the Brewers and now with the Mets. He did give five-year extensions to Peralta and Aaron Ashby during is time in Milwaukee, but those deals were for pitchers in their mid-20s. Other than those two early-career extensions, he hasn’t signed a pitcher to a deal longer than three years. Even though he’s now working with one of the largest payrolls in the league, Sean Manaea‘s $75MM deal is the largest guarantee Stearns has given to a pitcher. Rosenthal mentions that the Mets did offer a 12-year deal to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but that was a special case since he was only 25 years old at the time.
Peralta will turn 30 in June and will therefore be going into his age-31 season when he is a free agent. Getting a lengthy deal at that age should be possible for Peralta if he has another strong season. Last offseason, Max Fried got an eight-year deal going into his age-31 campaign. The prior winter, Aaron Nola got seven years ahead of his age-31 season. Dylan Cease is going into his age-30 season, so he is a year younger than Peralta will be in that sense, but his birthday is in December. Peralta’s birthday is in June, so it will only really be a difference of about six months.
In terms of the guarantees, Fried got $218MM, Cease got $210MM and Nola got $172MM. Cease’s deal had notable deferrals, putting the net present value in the $180-185MM range. Peralta has an argument to get into that range next winter, especially when comparing him to Cease.
Over the past five seasons, Peralta has thrown 738 1/3 innings with a 3.30 earned run average, 29.6% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate. In that same span, Cease took on a bigger workload of 884 innings but a higher ERA of 3.72. Cease’s 29.7% strikeout rate was a near match for Peralta’s, with Cease having a higher walk rate of 9.7%. Peralta’s 37.7% ground ball rate was marginally higher than Cease’s 37% clip.
If Peralta is looking to get something resembling the Cease deal, Stearns would have to go to new territory to keep him with the Mets. A deal in that range would require Stearns to more than double his previous high water marks, both in terms of length and guarantee. Perhaps he is willing to buck his previous tendencies since he clearly loves Peralta.
Peralta would be taking on some risk in not signing now, as it’s always possible for a pitcher to get hurt. Perhaps there’s some middle ground that could work for both parties now, where Peralta doesn’t fully max out his earnings by going to free agency next winter, but still locks in a really significant guarantee.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images