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3 ways Jorge Polanco can salvage his NY Mets tenure in year two

It's not asking for too much.
ByTim Boyle
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Aug 15, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets designated hitter Jorge Polanco (11) reacts after hitting a single against the Washington Nationals during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Tom Horak-Imagn Images
Aug 15, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets designated hitter Jorge Polanco (11) reacts after hitting a single against the Washington Nationals during the ninth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Tom Horak-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jorge Polanco’s New York Mets season ended with surgery in mid-August. Only 37 games and  a .148/.201/.230 slash line with just a pair of games played at first base in one of the boldest experiments of the year, it’s not even worth diving into what grade this free agent signing deserves. It is an F in every way possible.

Signed for another year, there’s no fixing what went wrong in year one but maybe there is some salvaging of year two. Our expectations have certainly been lowered. We’re not going to completely drop them as he’ll be making $23 million ($20 million on the luxury tax) in 2027.

In order to stop this from becoming an all-time Mets free agent mess, Polanco can save his reputation by achieving these three goals.

How Jorge Polanco can make up for his Mets mess in year two

1) Jorge Polanco needs to exceed defensive expectations

Whatever your defensive expectations are for Polanco, he needs to hit them. Don’t say you have no expectations even if that is a likely outcome. Signed as a second baseman to play first base, the fact we only ever got two games from him at the position is tragic. The prevailing thought was 81 games at the position was a reasonable ask. We would have accepted 60 or so.

Pitched as even a guy who could maybe play other infield positions as well, there are a lot of ways for Polanco to show his value beyond being a hitter. While the most important attribute he needs to bring is at the plate, being more than locked into the DH spot is pretty important.

2) Jorge Polanco needs to become a solution vs. left-handed pitchers

The Mets still don’t have a team built well against left-handed pitching. With several of their best hitters swinging from that left side and locked into key roles next year, they could really benefit from Polanco being a solution in those spots.

In 2025 with the Seattle Mariners, Polanco hit .305/.345/.543 versus left-handed pitching. His lifetime numbers are more slanted in the other direction. Nevertheless, the switch-hitting veteran must be someone this lefty-heavy lineup can trust to take care of southpaws. Watch out Tarik Skubal.

3) Jorge Polanco needs to have one really good offensive ability

Power, OBP, or a knack for coming up with a big hit at the right time, Polanco doesn’t need to compete for an MVP. We just need to know when Polanco comes up to the plate there’s one thing he does really well.

A power explosion twice in his career, the 2025 season being the most important representation because of how recent it was, sets some expectation level. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for Polanco to suddenly evolve further and into a high OBP guy or something along those lines. The Mets fell in love with his lack of strikeouts in 2025. At minimum, we’ll take a guy who puts together a lousy statistical season and somehow manages to come through. Polanco went 7 for 20 in late/close situations in 2026. You’d never know it because he was nearly completely useless in all other spots.

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