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Mets picking Jorge Polanco over Pete Alonso might be worst mistake in MLB
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- Mets picking Jorge Polanco over Pete Alonso might be worst mistake in MLB
Mets picking Jorge Polanco over Pete Alonso might be worst mistake in MLB originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Plenty of teams around Major League Baseball made huge mistakes last offseason. The New York Mets made plenty of them, but so did the Los Angeles Dodgers with their Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz blockbuster signings.
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The Mets, however, might've made the worst move out of any team this offseason. It revolves entirely around the infield reshuffling, with Pete Alonso leaving and Jorge Polanco taking his place.
ESPN's Bradford Doolittle called this swap the biggest disappointment for the Mets this season. But it goes well beyond simply being a disappointment. Letting Alonso walk might've been the worst decision any team made this offseason.
Mets' Pete Alonso decision might be worst of entire MLB offseason
"The big one was the overhauling of the position group, which, among other things, left Alonso as an Oriole and the Mets with a yawn-inducing platoon at first base that barely cleared replacement level," Doolittle writes. "Opening Day first baseman Jorge Polanco started the first two games there, and that was it. Very disappointing."
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Losing Alonso, a very talented home run hitter and a beloved player, was a huge mistake. But, to make matters worse, the plan to fill his role went terribly wrong.
Polanco has been about as disappointing a free agent, trade, or call-up as any team has made since the end of the 2025 MLB season.
MORE: Freddy Peralta gets bad news on free agency odds to land nine-figure contract
Polanco posted -1.4 bWAR this season across 135 at-bats for the Mets and has played in only 37 games. Alonso has played in every game for the Orioles and has 4.1 bWAR this season. He has more hits (151) than Polanco has at-bats this season.
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There are plenty of other terrible moves made last offseason, including the Bo Bichette , Freddy Peralta , and Luis Robert Jr. additions by the Mets.
But the decision to replace Alonso with Polanco has a real case as being the worst move of the entire offseason by any team.
It's an all-time terrible exchange for the Mets, as letting Alonso go and trying to replace him with Polanco is one of the worst swaps any team has ever made.
