December 16: The Mets have now officially announced the Polanco deal.
December 13: The Mets and the free agent franchise Jorge Polanco have agreed to a two-year contract, reports The Athletic’s Will Sammon (multiple links). The deal is worth $40MM, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. Polanco is represented by Octagon Agency.
It’s a huge strike for a losing Mets team Pete Alonso again Edwin Diaz to free agency over the past week, not to mention last month’s trade that sent another Met in Brandon Nimmo to Texas. New York has been discovered Marcus Semien in the Nimmo deal, and while Polanco has a long history of playing second base, Passan writes that the Mets will use Polanco primarily as a first baseman and DH. Polanco could also slot in at third base, though it looks like the Mets are looking at Polanco as a puzzle piece to replace Alonso at first.
The 32-year-old Polanco hit .265/.326/.495 with 26 home runs over 524 plate appearances for the Mariners last season, playing a key role on a Seattle team that won the AL West and fell short of the World Series. It was Polanco’s performance after the fall of 2024, which led to a one-year guarantee to return to the Mariners in 2025. That deal paid Polanco $7.75MM in guaranteed money, and he made enough plate appearances to turn an $8MM collective option through 2026 into a $6MM contingent player option after once again rejecting the Polanco market. his most advanced stage of the year.
The 132 wRC+ Polanco posted in 2025 was the highest of his career, and he significantly reduced his hitting after seeing his K% balloon over the past four seasons. While Polanco walked slower than usual, his 45.8% hard-hit ball rate was a career best. Overall, the advanced metrics suggest that Polanco’s 2025 resurgence was legitimate, and if anything, his .269 BABIP shows that he probably deserved even better numbers.
Another concern during Polanco’s strong year was that he played 89 games as a hard hitter, after accumulating 45 DH days over his previous 11 major league seasons. Polanco suffered a hamstring injury early in the 2025 season that wasn’t bad enough to merit a trip to the injured list, but the Mariners compensated by using Polanco less often in the field, and reducing the use of the switch-hitter against left-handed pitching.
While there has never been concern that Polanco will be similarly limited going forward, the Mets’ plan to use him as a first baseman may also reflect Polanco’s age, his modest defensive numbers as a second or third baseman, and the fact that a stellar player like Semien already exists in the primary position. Throughout his long professional career, Polanco has made his appearances as a first baseman, and it was his latest one at-bat during Seattle’s 5-4 loss to the Giants last April 6.
Polanco is an experienced player enough that the Mets feel he will be able to learn the position over time. For all of Alonso’s pluses at the plate, he was such a poor outfielder that Polanco would be a defensive upgrade even if he was a first baseman. Because the DH spot is open and because Polanco can be used at third base, this signing also does not close the door for the Mets to sign other big names like Cody Bellinger or a special first baseman like the Cardinals’ Wilson Contreras.
In the midst of losing both Alonso and Nimmo, the Mets’ offense was affected by replacing the duo with Polanco and Semien, given how Semien struggled in 2025. Preventing runs has been a stated goal for Mets general manager David Stearns, and improving the defense is another way to make the pitching staff even better, even if the team needs to get better.
MLB Trade Rumors ranked Polanco 23rd on our list of the top 50 free agents, and featured a three-year, $42MM deal for the veteran. Polanco ended up almost matching the dollar amount on the two-year deal, as he opted for a higher average annual price rather than the additional three-plus years of protection he wanted in his next deal.
The short term earns Polanco another free-agent bid at age 34, and continued production could set him up for another lucrative short-term deal. Stearns is known for preferring short-term commitments to free agents, so this also fits well with PBO’s approach to system building.
The Pirates and Red Sox have been known to be interested in Polanco this winter, and the infielder has been attracting a lot of attention from the Mariners regarding a potential deal. Adam Jude of the Seattle Times hears from a source that the Mariners’ last offer for Polanco was a two-year contract, and they were “very competitive” with the Mets’ $40MM offer.
Seattle earned its highest value of the re-signing season Josh Naylorand the group’s plan was to test Polanco once Eugenio Suarez as those who will return. With Polanco now in Queens, the Mariners could turn to Suarez as a DH candidate and interim third baseman, or explore other internal options in the free agent or trade arenas. With a number of infield candidates at third base, the M’s have been looking hard at the bottom during their infield pursuit this winter.
Inside photo courtesy of Jordan Godfree – Imagn Images
