Last night, the Mets officially announced their recent deal with star infielder Bo Bichette and swung a trade for former All-Star Luis Robert Jr. to patrol center field for the team this year. Those moves are the latest in what’s turned into a major overhaul of the Mets’ offense coming off a disappointing 83-win campaign that saw them miss the playoffs in Juan Soto’s first season under club control. Franchise stalwarts Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil departed the club and a group of new faces have been brought in. It’s a bold decision by president of baseball operations David Stearns to overhaul the offense so dramatically when the team’s 112 wRC+ was good for fifth-best in the majors last season.
The club also missed out on Kyle Tucker and haven’t yet managed to secure a front-of-the-rotation arm. Those developments have left some fans frustrated with the team headed into 2026. Spring Training is now less than a month away. While it’s certainly not impossible to make additional moves to round out the roster, there’s a chance the biggest moves are now done. If the collection of position players the Mets have now is what they’ll enter the 2026 campaign with, how does it compare to the group they put forward last year?
Both lineups will have the one-two punch of Francisco Lindor at shortstop and Soto in right field to kick things off. Things start to get significantly different from there, though. Alonso’s 141 wRC+ is difficult to replace, and no player the Mets have added so far figures to put up a gaudy number like that this year. Bichette (134 wRC+) and Jorge Polanco (132 wRC+) have both come into the mix on the heels of strong seasons in their own rights, however, and both figure to serve as legitimate middle-of-the-order threats for the Mets this season. Neither Bichette nor Polanco figure to provide the power that Alonso offered, as he swatted 38 long balls this year. Bichette has never hit even 30 homers in his career, and Polanco last did so in 2021.
As tough as the loss of Alonso is, however, it can certainly be argued at the team’s additions lengthen the lineup overall. While neither Bichette or Polanco offers quite the same offensive impact as Alonso, both were fair superior to Brandon Nimmo (115 wRC+) and Jeff McNeil (111 wRC+) last season. Marcus Semien (89 wRC+) and Robert (84 wRC+) weren’t at that level, but both are coming off injury-marred campaigns in 2025 and could see their numbers tick back up towards league average with better health. In the case of Robert, however, even a repeat of last year would be a substantial improvement for the Mets relative to what they got out of center field last year. The team’s center fielders (primarily Tyrone Taylor and Cedric Mullins) combined for a wRC+ of 71 with just 0.7 fWAR. That makes Robert a likely upgrade even if he can’t get close to the All-Star form he flashed back in 2023, when he posted a 129 wRC+ and 4.9 fWAR in 145 games.
Health for both Semien and Robert figures to be key to a successful Mets lineup this year, but perhaps the biggest wild card is how the team’s young talent will perform. All indications suggest that, if another move isn’t made, top outfield prospect Carson Benge will get a clear shot at regular playing time for the Mets in the outfield. Meanwhile, Brett Baty will be looking to build on a successful 2025 season while likely spending time at first base and DH alongside Polanco, and Francisco Alvarez will try to replicate last season’s monster second half across the full year. Versatile prospect Jett Williams also figures to play a role for the team at some point this year, though when that will be (and where on the diamond he’ll wind up playing) remains to be seen.
Assuming a big trade like Jarren Duran isn’t coming down the pipeline to change the look of New York’s offense, how do MLBTR readers think the Mets’ lineup will fare in 2026? Will they be able to match last season’s production? Could they exceed it? Or will they come up short and be a less productive offense than the one Alonso helped lead last year? Have your say in the poll below:
I’m a braves fan so I am a little biased
That rotation is brutal but that lineup will be best in baseball. Tons of upgrades. Those aging players will mold well together !
The rotation was brutal last year after guys went down who were stabilizing things…Megill, Canning, until McLean came up.
A full season (relatively) of McLean, contributions from Brandon Sproat, with Peterson, Holmes, Senga, and Manaea? Yeah, they need another starter for sure. But to say that is a terrible I think is really such an overstatement.
They will trade for a starter or sign Framber or Gallen. No doubt, and then wouldn’t be surprised at trading for another starter like Bubic near the deadline.
I think I prefer Alonso, Nimmo, Baty at 3B (option to also sign Bichette for 2B) than Polanco (never played 1B, injury prone), Bichette at 3B (likely doesn’t have the arm for it), Robert (injury prone, not much with bat last few years), and an aging Semien
At 60, I’ve been following these guys since 1971, and I’ve seen it all. I’m not one of those doom and gloom fans. However, I believe this is going to be a disaster of a first half season for them, until the front office panics and tries to bandage it with more free agents after the ASG. To be perfectly honest with you, I would really enjoy seeing a lot of the young guys come up. I don’t necessarily care what place they wind up in.
Only if a lot of things go wrong, which is possible. Benge not being ready for the bigs and losing confidence, injuries hit several key players like Bichette and Polanco, Vientos strikes out 30+% of the time, Baty and Alvarez show their promising 2nd half last year was a mirage…
But I think they have a team that is a lot more pesky at the plate, more athletic, and definitely defensively superior up the middle.
I think this is a better team overall. I think everyone hates losing Alonso and Nimmo, but honestly, with Nimmo especially he was a liability defensively and no longer was the hitter he used to be. Won’t be surprised if the offense actually scores a lot more runs this year than last.
To be fair, Nimmo changed his approach at the plate and his 28/92 production is not easily replaceable. I don’t necessarily think there was a decline in his offense, just a different approach
144 votes saw it my way thus far. 144 voters could definitely be wrong on this matter though.
by the AS break, semien and robert will be either on the IR, on the bench, or traded and replaced with benge, jett, clifford, or baty
replacing your franchise HR record holder with jorge polanco who has played exactly zero games at 1st base and is not even half the player alonso is, well thats a head scratcher for the ages
I think them replacing Alonso with Polanco was their biggest blunder of the offseason. Should’ve kept the Polar Bear as protection for Lindor/Soto.
FG projections
C Alvarez 119
1B Polanco 116
2B Semien 102
3B Bichette 121
SS Lindor 123
LF Benge 96
CF Robert 95
RF Soto 165
DH Vientos/Baty 115/108
AV: 116.6
Then a bunch of PA by bench players
Probably slightly over 112
imo, those are solid projections. I’d bump Baty up, personally, and drop Vientos a bit. I think Mets would be very happy if Benge put up close to league average as a rookie, though I think there’s a shot he finishes over 100. I’d maybe bump Alvarez up into the 120s as well, and even that out with Robert closer to 90.
These projections are nonsensical balderdash.
@whyhayzee: In which direction? Too high? Too low?
Indubitably!
What’s the 5 or 6 starting rotation? I know they added bullpen help in Williams and weaver or as reference them WW2.
In no particular order McLean, peterson, manaea, senga, Holmes with tong, sproat, and Christian Scott waiting in the wings
Those projections are immaculately transcendental…
They are not as good as last year.
Is it March 26? Wait until Opening Day to
access this team.
Mets golf
Should we access the team first, and assess it later? Or the other way around?
The later seems like cheating a bit.
Seems like a bit of excess to both access and assess tbh
Why is this discussion about retooling the lineup? It’s pitching that kept them out of the postseason and they haven’t done much to address it. I don’t know how much retooling the lineup will matter
Because this discussion is about what the Mets have done on OFFENSE and not what they have not with the pitching, which i agree with you on, but that’s a different discussion.
But since he brought it up! Will they pony up for Skubal or Peralta before the Dodgers do? There’s a poll they need to do.
Cohen should just go full Preller on this and make Stearns go get both! Why not
@Motor, let them both pay boku prospects for one year of each of them. I want to see the fanbase reaction.
Mets are not trading for Skubal or peralta
I don’t see Stearns giving up a bunch of prospects for rentals when Cohen can just buy them next year if he wants to try
A Skubal in front of this team could possibly win you a championship in 2026.
They haven’t done much to address their pitching because, presumably, they’ll have healthy versions of Senga and Manaea, they get back Christian Scott (who was almost as highly-touted in the minors as McLean prior to his injury), they’ll get a full season of McLean, they have Sproat and Tong waiting in the wings, and 2-3 more solid arms starting the season in Syracuse who could potentially help them down the stretch (Wenninger, Santucci, Zach Thornton). Plus Jesse Minter is returning early on and they have a few solid BP pieces in AAA (Dylan Ross and Ryan Lambert). I think the pitching will be a lot better this year.
Almost all of the above won’t give them full seasons though so they’ll definitely need one at the least. In theory you’d want to get a front of the rotation guy to ease McLean into being that guy in years to come.
They have nine starters on the 40 man roster. They can do a six man rotation and still have three options to fill in as needed. I don’t see the need to add more. McLean, Tong, and Christian Scott have TOR stuff. Maybe not in 2026, but going forward. No need to mortgage the future.
Stuff and doing it are very different animals. That rotation failed massively last season. If any part of their 2025 roster needed bolstering, it was that. You should never ever say we have these youngsters to get it done on such an expense team. That’s bananas from a business sense.
Hoping Senga and Manea stay healthy, Scott doesn’t have any setbacks and Holmes at least does what he did last year, and no sophomore slump from McLean.
That’s a lot of hoping. Or they could just pony up for Skubal.
Mets still need to do more at this point. They need to make another big trade.
Out – Alonso, McNeil, Nimmo
In – Bichette, Robert, Polanco, Semien
Yes, I think the Mets should still have an excellent offense in 2026.
And Benge, their #1 position player prospect and the #5 OF in baseball per MLB Pipeline.
They need to bring back Jesse Winker and then I will sign off on it.
Of course not. They need to spend A Lot More Money!
Those mets fans won’t mind paying a bazillion dollars for a ticket.
I think they will underperform offensively but not significantly.
Other than that…
I’m still not getting that Polanco signing vs. signing Arraez for 1b.
Well I’m also not getting the Bichette signing for 3b when there were better.
So defense there is probably taking a hit.
That said, Luis Robert amd Marcus Semien are plus defenders, but neither has not been good or healthy for long periods of time recently.
So…pluses and minus there.
Polanco is better than Arraez. It’s that simple, imo. Arraez is a poor defender, slow, doesn’t walk, and doesn’t hit for power. He (probably) would’ve been cheaper, but the upside is higher with Polanco, imo. I can’t see Polanco being a worse defender than Arraez.
Polanco has not played first and Bo has not played 3rd, how anyone thinks that won’t be a problem is beyond me. They are fine players, I just question why Stearns got them for THIS team.
But to the task at hand,,,
Arraez has played the position and puts the ball in play a lot. He has been a pretty darn good table setter for years. He’s also 4 years younger that Polanco so I disagree on that upside. Also, you didn’t say slow for Arraez and not Polanco, right? And Arraez got on base a percentage point more than Polanco. Jorge really only has power on him. So to me, Arraez was the better option. It’s a missed opportunity to get a guy that really would have fit.
Admit it, this team is going to be an absolute mess. You can’t just bring in a bunch of mercenaries and expect instant success. They had issues in the clubhouse last year and a lack of team culture, how is bringing in a whole new slate of faces and egos and randomness going to gel (and at positions they don’t normally play) ??
Randomness is big key here and the calling card of Stearns in my opinion during his tenure. He’s constantly trying to put a square into a circle when there are perfect circles available.
They need to add a frontliner.
“ Alonso’s 141 wRC+ is difficult to replace, and no player the Mets have added so far figures to put up a gaudy number like that this year.”
They’ll recreate him in the aggregate.
This is a strange off-season for the Mets. They’re really counting on huge bounce back seasons from several players and continued success of mid to late 30s guys. This could go very wrong. Honestly they only have 1 dangerous LH bat in the lineup now and they’re a couple of injuries away from a last place finish.
There’s no chance they’ll finish last being in the same division as the Nationals.
Polanco and Lindor are switch hitters. So most of the time, they are dangerous LH hitters. Pretty soon Benge will be recognized as a dangerous left handed hitter. Plus while Baty may not be fully actualized over a full season, I wouldn’t say he’s not dangerous.
Looking forward to Benge. Need a significant SP. But watch a full year of McLean be something special
The lineup? Not really… but it’s still good. And there must have been a mental thing with that group because they had a couple of epic collapses that really never made sense. So perhaps the real value is the new group is mentally strong and can remain consistent… cause idk if they are all more talented. But if they don’t do anything about their pitching, then does the new lineup really matter?
They should have kept Alonso. His power production wasn’t really replaced.
The Robert deal has HUGE upside. Totally worth the gamble. I’m not a Mets fan, but I applaud the move.
The Mets five-man rotation at 2nd base is a game changer.