4 NY Mets offseason whiffs we wish they made hard contact with

2) Trading for Willson Contreras

The Mets were very much in on trading for Willson Contreras. When you look at the offensive numbers and how well he played defense at first base last year, he seemed almost too ideal for the Mets.

His contract isn’t horrific and given the cost the Boston Red Sox paid to land him, the Mets could have matched it without putting too big of a dent in their farm system. 

So far, the only replacing the Mets have done in lieu of Alonso is bringing in Jorge Polanco. He’s not really even a first baseman. He’s a second baseman who is shifting over to first base to provide the club with some infield flexibility and also DH at-bats. It’s not a bad move by any stretch. However, with so few alternatives left in free agency that’ll actually move the needle, it does seem as if the Mets are going to end up with a lesser first base option such as Paul Goldschmidt.

Contreras at first base with Polanco featured more as a DH is much more ideal than some of the more sensible moves that lurk ahead. The Mets don’t appear to be in the running for Kazuma Okamoto. There aren’t really too many other first basemen they should actually trade for.

Is it possible we end up with something simpler like Mark Vientos at first base playing alongside Polanco? This isn’t the worst-case scenario, but just one of the less satisfying. In an offseason with such high turnover, the Mets would have been a great match for Contreras.