Mark Vientos has lots to prove, so does the $40 million NY Mets insurance investment

Nobody may have more at stake from this very second to the end of the New York Mets season than Mark Vientos. His future hanging in the balance, he’s an out-of-options corner infielder who hasn’t played third base well, has barely done much at first base, and has enough offensive questions to fill Letchworth State Park, better known as the “Grand Canyon of the East.” It seems like a nice place to visit on your way to Niagara Falls.

The story with Vientos is fresh for Mets history. No one has had as big of a season as he did in 2024 surrounded by what he did prior and followed it up with in 2025. Not even Dominic Smith was able to, for a full year, come close to matching Vientos.

The pressure is on Vientos. It should be, equally if not more, on the $40 million investment the Mets have made on one of the guys who’ll take at-bats from him. Jorge Polanco isn’t a missing piece. He needs to be a lot more.

Jorge Polanco has questions beyond just his ability to play first base

The move to first base headlines the questions asked about Polanco. What about his offense? He’s meant to be a middle of the order bat for the Mets who can build off of an impressive year with the Seattle Mariners which saw him hit for power and make regular contact.

Polanco’s 26 home runs helped push his .821 OPS 50 points higher than his lifetime .771 OPS. He has had a bit of an unpredictable career at the plate. His 2024 season featured just a .213 batting average with a .651 OPS. He is capable of having those kinds of season-long slumps.

The unpredictability of what kind of year he can have blends right into the mix of uncertainty with other Mets players. There are a lot of guys on this roster who’ve failed to meet the consistency criteria. Polanco is one of them.

At a $20 million AAV costing $17 million this year and $23 million next, the Mets took a different approach with Polanco than most teams would. They’re paying him essentially three years’ salary over two seasons. You can look at it a number of ways. One is they believe he can be really good in 2026 and 2027 while acknowledging he would have been more burdensome in 2028.

Polanco cutting his strikeout percentage almost in half from 2024 to 2025 might show growth, but doesn’t eliminate the possibility of him regressing. He has been under the 20% mark several times in his career. He has also been over. Which version shows up in 2026?

It’s a unique place Polanco is in at the price tag the Mets signed him for. They have leeway to sit him in certain situations. They also may have the justification to run him out there as much as possible at more than one position. 

Vientos is the player whose career trajectory can change the most with a good or bad year. It’s Polanco who should feel some of the weight, too. The switch-hitting veteran was meant to stabilize a part of the team that lacked clarity. Whether hitting fourth or anywhere else in the order, he needs to be that veteran mainstay in a lineup full of questions.

A strong showing with a .333 batting average and pair of home runs thus far, Polanco has come across professional on the field and off. Far from the headliner of early critique or questions, we have to hope this unexpected signing truly was a rabbit out of the hat addition the Mets needed.