The Mets need an insurance plan at first base

Plus buzz on Cody Bellinger, Bo Bichette, and sudden trade candidates out of Wrigley

What’s up with the Mets? 🍎

• After impressing in the Dominican Winter League, 18-year-old shortstop Elian Pena will make his stateside debut during the 2026 season (Official)

• RHP Luke Weaver revealed the Yankees never made him an offer this winter prior to him joining the Mets as a free agent (Foul Territory)

• Both RHPs Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong are among the top ten right-handed pitching prospects, with McLean considered to be the best among that group (MLB.com)

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Rumor Mill 💨

• The Yankees have shown interest in Cubs’ second baseman Nico Hoerner as well as White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. (NY Post)

• The Yankees are willing to include opt outs in a potential contract with Cody Bellinger (Athletic)

• Minnesota has shown interest in free agent reliever Seranthony Dominguez (KSTP)

• The Phillies met with Bo Bichette on zoom yesterday and have emerged as the favorites to land him (Athletic)

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The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️

On the latest episode of the Just Mets Podcast, Rich & Andrew discussed the latest on Kyle Tucker, their chances of signing him and why David Stearns needs to make this one happen.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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Are the Mets serious about this first base situation? ✍️

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

While many of us Mets fans are struggling to identify exactly what the organization’s vision really is in the midst of an offseason of upheaval and turmoil, first base continues to stand out to me as a colossal head-scratcher.

I’m firmly in the camp of the furiously frustrated Met fan, utterly baffled by the club’s willingness to move on from mainstays like Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, and Edwin Díaz in the name of run prevention with no clear replacement for any of them.

Some of those moves, though, while I don’t agree with them, it’s at least possible to parse together a logic.

The Nimmo trade was motivated by a desire to improve defensively and get out of a five-year commitment for a diminishing player. Sure, second baseman Marcus Semien is past his prime offensively, but he’s still incredibly adept with the glove and there’s no doubt he’ll help the club’s run prevention. Hello catchphrase of the winter.

Is sacrificing a significant amount of offense with Nimmo in exchange for a better glove up the middle in Semien going to be a net positive? I’m highly skeptical, but that’s at least the thinking.

Letting Díaz, the best closer in baseball, join the new evil empire in Los Angeles over a minimal amount of money if we’re to believe the figures that came out afterwards, was simply asinine on the surface. New York was able to bring in both Devin Williams and Luke Weaver from the crosstown Yankees in free agency, so it’s certainly possible the late-inning relief is still a strength. But again, that remains to be seen and nobody can argue it’s as strong as it would have been with Williams and Díaz.

First base, however, to me, still just has me dumbfounded.

Pete Alonso one billion percent deserved to be a Met for life. He deserved every penny of the long-term deal the Orioles gave him in free agency, and he’s going to continue to be one of the premier power hitters in baseball in Baltimore.

Clearly, David Stearns felt leery of giving a first baseman on the wrong side of 30 a long-term deal, especially given his desire to improve defensively.

That’s obviously an admirable goal, but I think he’s dramatically underestimating how difficult it will be to replace Alonso’s 35+ home run, 100+ RBI bat in the middle of the Mets lineup.

So, what’s actually the plan?

Jorge Polanco was an interesting signing. He’s an underrated offensive player that will help the club’s offense, but the idea that a guy with one actual inning of Major League experience at first base is going to be an improvement defensively over an actual first baseman is comical.

Polanco has positional versatility and can bounce around a little bit while also DH’ing some, so he should be a net positive in that respect, but not as a full-time first baseman. It is unrealistic to expect that to work out well.

This offseason would be a monumental failure of either Polanco or Mark Vientos playing first base on opening day.

You just cannot watch arguably the face of the franchise walk out the door, try to sell it to the fans as a decision motivated by a desire to get better defensively, and then don’t even bring in a realistic first baseman.

Prospect Ryan Clifford is waiting in the wings to take over the job potentially as early as later this summer but more realistically early in 2027, so it’s not like the Mets need a long-term answer right now.

Cody Bellinger and his ability to play both first base and center field at a high level make him an idealistic fit for the current Mets roster.

But if that’s not going to come to fruition, I’m curious why New York has not been linked at all to Luis Arraez.

David Frerker-Imagn Images

The 28-year-old is truly a unique and unparallel player in general, but especially as a free agent, his value is difficult to gauge.

Arraez is not really a plus defender at either first base or second base; he’s hit only 36 home runs in parts of seven seasons and owns a lifetime slugging percentage just over .400.

But sometimes in life, we focus too much on what somebody doesn’t do instead of what he actually does.

And what does Arraez do? Flat out hit.

We’re talking about a player who won three consecutive batting titles from ‘22-’24, and while last season he hit 25 points lower than his career average—he still led the National League in hits and hit .292.

He’s one of the elite contact hitters in the game, a throwback of sorts to the likes of Tony Gwynn. He unbelievably struck out only 21 times in 620 at-bats—roughly three percent of the time. Of course, he doesn’t really walk and doesn’t hit for any power. There’s a real case to be made for bringing him in on a short-term deal or a placeholder and sliding him into the second spot in the Mets batting order between Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. If they’re afraid of over-exposing his defense, he’s an ideal candidate to be a designated hitter against right-handed pitching.

New York is already willing to deal from its infield influx, but adding someone like Arraez would really make Vientos even more available to be flipped for pitching help. Arraez is on-par with Vientos at worst defensively, has more experience than Polanco at first base, and would make the lineup a lot less swing-and-miss than it is right now.

At this point, we are roughly a month away from the outset of spring training, and we’ll have some answers soon, but as the days tick away, I’m just really struggling to figure out what is going to happen at first base, and it would be nice to gain some sort of clarity.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Rays acquired LHP Ken Waldichuk and infielder Brett Wisely from Atlanta in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later

• Minnesota has hired recently retired outfielder Michael A. Taylor as an outfield instructor (Minneapolis Star Tribune)