Mets ink Jorge Polanco for $40 million, a move experts question, especially with his potential shift to first base.
The New York Mets watched Pete Alonso sign a five-year, $155 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles.
Then, they quickly signed Seattle Mariners infielder Jorge Polanco to a two-year deal worth $40 million.
And, for some reason, the Mets are preparing to have Polanco move over and play first base in a surprising move.
While Polanco's 2025 season was promising, he has had an up-and-down career, so signing him for $40 million is a bit questionable. Polanco had a strong regular season, hitting .265 with 26 home runs, 78 RBIs and an .821 OPS.
Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report listed six of the biggest overpays this offseason, and Polanco is at No. 4 on the list after the Mets signed him to a two-year, $40 million deal.
"It's not surprising that based on that Polanco got a nice deal, or even shocking that he got two seasons. But considering Polanco hit .234 with a .724 OPS between 2022 and 2024—never playing in more than 118 games in a season—how rich Polanco's deal turned out to be with the Mets is surprising," Kelly wrote.
"Also, the Mets being the team that posted the winning bid for Polanco was also surprising. Clearly, president of baseball operations David Stearns wanted to change up the clubhouse mix, and isn't particularly fond of paying for power. Still, the idea of paying Polanco—who has pop, but isn't a power hitter—$20 million a year to mostly split time between DH and first base seems like overthinking things," Kelly added.
Polanco was an All-Star with the Minnesota Twins previously, so maybe the Mets are hoping he can get back to that level.
Then again, who knows what the Mets are thinking after watching Diaz and Alonso leave for other teams so far in free agency in a crushing blow.
At the end of the day, the Polanco deal could be a bargain when it's all said and done, but for now, there is plenty of risk, as Kelly wrote at the end of his overpay section.
"But the combination of injury risk and the fit in New York, this one is still tough to entirely wrap your head around."
Free agency has also been full of surprising deals, including the Atlanta Braves giving Ha-Seong Kim a one-year, $20 million deal, so this very well could be the market rate for those types of players going into the 2026 MLB season.