The top NY Mets prospect who is most grateful for the strange offseason

To say the New York Mets' offseason hasn't played out as expected is an understatement. The opening move, trading Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien, seemed to serve two purposes. First was providing the defensive upgrade that the Mets desperately needed. The second was presumably to open up payroll in future years in order to be aggressive and make big splashes in free agency.

Mission accomplished on the first, not so much on the second. Since then, the Mets have been relatively quiet, with their marquee signing being Jorge Polanco at two years, $40 million. That's a sizeable chunk of change, but not the long-term mega deal fans were expecting for a slugger or an ace or both.

The club let Pete Alonso walk, putting an end to what seemed like a destiny of settlement between both parties. The assumption is that Polanco will take over first base duties, but can we really be so sure?

The Mets' unexpected offseason could open the door for Ryan Clifford to steal a role in 2026

Polanco is a good hitter, but as good as his career-best year was in 2025, he was one year removed from one of the worst performances of his career in 2024, posting a 93 wRC+. He'll also be tasked with playing a position he's never played at the big league level. The 32-year-old came up as a shortstop, and as he's aged, he's bounced around between second and third, playing neither particularly well.

There's a chance Polanco could end up at DH. He occupied the DH role in 88 of his 138 contests in 2025, and he's dealt with injuries in recent years, averaging just 110 games played per season since 2022. Given how much the Mets will be relying on his bat to play up this season, it makes sense to protect him and take advantage of his switch-hitting capability by making him the regular designated hitter.

So who plays first? The options on the open market are dwindling. In New York's impressive constellation of prospects, it's easy for one name to get lost. That's the powerful 22-year-old first baseman Ryan Clifford, who ranks No. 8 on MLB Pipeline's top-30 Mets' prospects list.

Clifford spent the majority of his 2025 campaign in Binghamton, slashing .243/.355/.493 crushing 24 homers along the way. The lefty-swinging slugger then got the call to Syracuse, but there he struggled a bit against Triple-A competition, posting a .219/.359/.395 line while adding five homers to his total.

The hit tool is the question with Clifford, and the relatively lackluster showing in 34 games at Syracuse would lead one to believe that more seasoning is required. In a perfect world, that would be the case. Clifford has an advanced feel for the strikezone, posting a combined 14.7% walk rate between both levels last season, but he struck out at a 25.6% clip that will only increase at the big league level. That, plus a .237 combined batting average, raises concerns as to whether he'll make enough contact for his immense power to truly play.

This hasn't been an ideal offseason for the Mets, at least in the fans' eyes, thus far, so that could accelerate Clifford's ascension. As an added bonus, Clifford has some experience playing the outfield corners, and while first base is his best position, he could help out there as well. We all know that left field is currently unsettled after all.

In a perfect world, the earliest we see Clifford on the big league stage would be midseason, but we don't live in such a utopia. As a result, Clifford could quickly see the door open, and the Mets might desperately need him to step through it and perform.