NY Mets rumors: Insider splashes cold water on Teruaki Sato free agent pursuit before it begins

Nobody will argue that the biggest frustration with the 2026 New York Mets was the handling of first base. From the moment Pete Alonso walked away, it became a constant storyline.

The Mets tried to pitch us Jorge Polanco, a man who hadn’t played the position, as a viable replacement. Moving Mark Vientos across the diamond was another solution we were told about as well as some reps from Brett Baty. The winning move ended up being Jared Young who outpunched expectations on both sides of the ball.

Not completely solved, SNY’s Chelsea Jane believes the Mets might be passive about the position for the 2027 campaign. On the Mets Pod, she splashed cold water all over the idea of a Teruaki Sato pursuit and any other significant first base upgrades before those sprints even began.

It’s a fair assumption that upgrading first base in a big way isn’t a Mets priority

The Mets let Alonso walk, or so it is believed, because of the back end of his contract. They didn’t want an aging slugger on the roster in five years. In fact, David Stearns has been pretty adamant about not signing anyone other than Juan Soto for more than three seasons.

Young’s breakout season shouldn’t be taken with a grain of salt nor should it be viewed as an absolute solution for the ball club. A .759 OPS in 342 plate appearances is welcomed. It’s still hardly the impactful result we’d like to demand from a position of power like first base.

It’s a tricky situation for the Mets who seem forced to choose between a somewhat low ceiling (Young, Polanco, a right-handed platoon bat) or something bigger like Sato. Sato kind of makes the rest of the crew irrelevant. They don’t need a right-handed platoon hitter in that case. Young’s playing time reduces him to a bench piece. While still useful, it’s a step backwards for him.

The Milwaukee Brewers regularly shuffled through different first basemen when Stearns was calling the shots for them. During his employment from 2016-2022 when he was the lead in roster decisions, they never once had the same player start on Opening Day at first base. The closest thing was Rowdy Tellez sticking around to do so in 2023 while Stearns remained with the club in an advisory role.

Following last offseason’s free agent class of first base which actually did include some good choices, we should be hesitant to believe this year’s lesser pool will catch the Mets’ eye. Ty France settled on a minor league contract. Ryan O’Hearn got less than Polanco. Others, as well, could have been brought in but the Mets chose what they did.

Sato is one of the higher ranking free agent bats this offseason, but there are reasons to believe even if the Mets were serious about an addition they would pass. As another left-handed bat in the lineup, they lose a lot of balance. Sato hasn’t played the position before and the Mets already have internal options they’d pitch to us. If Munetaka Murakami ended up with the Chicago White Sox for what he did, would the Mets really go as all in on Sato as they may need to?

It would be a pleasant surprise to see the Mets sign Sato. It would be uncharacteristic of Stearns to so heavily invest in a position he has routinely filled with cheaper options, platoons, and players whose defense wasn’t cut out for anywhere else.

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