Why the NY Mets rumors linking them to Teruaki Sato don’t make enough sense

According to the NY Post’s Jon Heyman, the latest New York Mets rumors have them, once again, looking overseas for some help. He names Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato as a potential target of the Mets, saying there’s an interest in him.

We’ve been here before. Last summer, it was Munetaka Murakami who seemed like he had a Mets contract of some kind waiting for him. Kazuma Okamoto made sense as well. Sato, a 27-year-old who has played mostly third base, looks intriguing and yet the fit with the Mets is like trying to match-up a piece from a dinosaur puzzle with a construction site one from the same brand. Yeah, it might fit but why does that excavator have sharp teeth?

These Mets rumors aren’t necessarily untrue. They just don’t seem to solve the problem for what the team needs nor does Sato appear to be the kind of player they tend to target.

Teruaki Sato doesn’t look like he’s bound to join the Mets this offseason

Heyman immediately notes the first issue: Sato hasn’t played first base. Not at all, in fact. He has some outfield experience and even a day at second base. No first base. Haven’t we been down this aisle before trying to transition players to that position?

Furthermore, he’s a left-handed hitter. Jared Young might not be the solution at first base as far as a starter is considered. However, the team is already loaded with left-handed hitters. Whether or not Bo Bichette is back is irrelevant to the conversation. Sato is already not known for his defense and a transition to first base, at least part time as a major leaguer, is indeed the most realistic outcome. We can negate the idea of Jorge Polanco playing much first base at all next year. Even so, why not make the target a right-handed hitter in this increasingly left-handed heavy team?

Sato’s 40 home runs last season and another 26 thus far in 2026 continue a powerful trend for him. Also in his bag of tricks, strikeouts. Lots of them. We’ve seen Murakami and Okamoto have success in the major leagues with both hitting for power and a low average. Both are also prone to striking out. Murakami is in the 2nd percentile with Okamoto in the 8th.

The weakness, one the Mets tried to avoid adding last offseason, doesn’t negate Sato. He has hit a ridiculous .319 this year in Japan, much better than his typical seasons in the .270s. A transition to MLB is sure to have a nosedive in some departments with the power being a key attribute as to why they signed him.

Are the Mets willing to go down the route of teaching the man a new position? If Bichette was to opt out, they weaken themselves defensively at third base. Sato represents a U-Turn in philosophy. David Stearns mustn’t be stubborn about those kinds of things. Sato just doesn’t click as being the right man for the job.

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