When the Mets signed Jorge Polanco to a two-year, $40 million contract to be their first baseman just days after Pete Alonso got five years from the Baltimore Orioles, it was, to put it lightly, a surprise. Polanco has been a good offensive player for a number of years, with a standout 2025 for the Seattle Mariners. However, he had never played more than an inning of first base professionally and, entering his age 33 season, isn’t exactly at the stage of his career where a positional change this extreme is likely. 

Now, let’s get both extremes out of the way. Polanco was a not-great middle infielder for most of his career, but based on all available data, playing second base or shortstop is much higher on the defensive difficulty spectrum than playing first is. He is downshifting positional difficulty, which is the better approach for someone learning the position during spring training. So this isn’t like asking Juan Soto to learn shortstop.

But playing first isn’t, as Brad Pitt as Billy Beane once said, “not that hard.” First base is a very different position than any of the other infield positions because of the footwork, the stretching, and the picking, all of which don’t really resemble play at the other positions. While, yes, the worst defenders on the field usually play first, they usually know how to play first base. So this isn’t as simple as just giving Polanco a new glove and suddenly getting Lou Gherig out there. Plus, he’s going to be catching throws from a brand new third baseman in Bo Bichette, which adds to the difficulty.

The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, and while Polanco has played a few games at first this spring, it isn’t as if his performance has sparked gobsmacked reactions on either extreme. This is likely going to be an open question until Polanco shows one way or the other what his first base defense looks like. 

That is only half of Polanco’s game and, frankly, the half that could change at the drop of a hat. If the first twenty games are an unmitigated disaster, Polanco could wind up the (close to) full-time designated hitter and put this question of first base behind us. So let’s look at who Polanco the hitter is. 

Actually, that is harder to do than you may think.

Polanco battled a lot of leg injuries, has an 80-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs on his record, and has had a lot of ups and downs in his MLB career. Using Baseball Reference’s 162 game average, Polanco has been a .263/.330/.442 hitter with 23 home runs, good for a 112 OPS+. While those aren’t exactly Pete Alonso numbers, given the mix of players the Mets brought in this season, that’s probably a passable performance. 

But those career numbers are not really who 2026 Polanco is. After a disastrous 2024 season, Polanco remade his swing and came out a very different hitter. Our Lukas Vlahos discussed this while grading his signing:

Under the hood, there are clear changes supporting the offensive jump. Polanco increased his bat speed by more than a full mile per hour and nearly doubled his fast swing rate without lengthening his swing at all. He also flattened his attack angle, a change that did result in more ground balls but which also improved the quality of his pulled air contact. All of this drove significant improvements to Polanco’s Z-contact and exit velocity metrics without harming his approach significantly or batted ball distribution in a meaningful way…Polanco had a 92nd percentile ISO and a 13th percentile strikeout rate…Among players with 100 PA last year, Ketel Marte is the only batter better than Polanco in both of these metrics. Jose Ramirez is the only other player somewhat close. That’s impressive company no matter how you slice it.

If the Mets believe that the changes he made are real and sustainable, then let’s use his 2025 as a more accurate comparison for this season: .265/.326/.495 with 26 home runs. That’s a 134 OPS+, which is much more palatable for a first baseman. For context, Alonso’s OPS+ was 144 in 2025. 

I use Alonso purposely, as that is who Polanco is going to be compared to for his entire Mets tenure. I don’t think anyone, from David Stearns to Polanco, expects Polanco to put up Alonso’s power numbers in 2026. Alonso is, at this moment, one of the elite power hitters in the game, and over the course of Polanco’s two-year deal, he will likely always be the inferior power hitter to Alonso.

But signing to Polanco for two years is very different than signing Alonso for five. Polanco at first is a roll of the dice, but Alonso at first is a known quantity. And what’s known more than many of us want to believe is that Alonso is declining defensively, and doing so at a fairly steep rate. It is understandable to want Alonso, who you know what to expect from, versus Polanco, a total unknown at first base. But even if Polanco is a disaster at first base and at the plate, he’s a more affordable and short term disaster than Alonso may wind up being. 

But if Polanco can be a passable first baseman – a big if – and he can keep his changes from 2025 going – another big if – the overall performance between the two may be closer than we think. 

Of course, that doesn’t erase the many fantastic memories we have of Alonso as a Met, nor does it lessen the sting of his departure for those that wanted to root for him in blue and orange for the rest of his career. But what it may do is help the team win baseball games. And that is why we are all here, isn’t it?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Going into 2026, the Yankees have quite a number of interesting rotation options at their disposal. Some of those — the likes of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt — will miss some time to start the season, but are expected back at some point. In the meantime, the team will be relying on Max Fried at the top of the rotation, and hoping that Cam Schlittler is as good as his tantalizing rookie season made him look.

There are also another couple young players who, at least to start the year, will be tasked with rounding out the rotation. Two of them we’ve seen plenty of in recent years: Will Warren and 2024 AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil. Another is Ryan Weathers, who the Yankees picked up in a trade with the Marlins this offseason. With those three hoping to impress and get a longer run in the rotation, even when the Yankees start to get some guys back from injury, we wanted to know which of them you think will have the best 2026.

As you can see, Warren was the runaway winner in the voting. That’s understandable, as we have seen several flashes of being a good pitcher in his time in the majors. With a career 5.16 ERA and a 4.44 one last year — 92 ERA+, for reference — he hasn’t been able to find consistency at the big league level. However even when he has struggled, signs like his strikeout numbers point to there being something there.

Of the three, Gil has probably shown the most at the big league level, having won the AL ROTY, as mentioned. While he dealt with injuries of his own last season, keeping him out a while, he didn’t totally replicate that in 2025. His ERA was actually better than 2024, but some of his peripherals were worse, as he continued to struggle with control and walking batters. He’s also a bit older than a ROTY win might suggest, as he’ll be 28 in June.

Weathers is quite low on this post, probably because he has really struggled in spring training. Of course, you can’t always just copy and paste spring numbers into the regular season, as players use this time of year to work on stuff, trying things they might not in a regular season game. However, there’s only so much you can write off from a 8.68 ERA in 9.1 innings. His spring debut was very impressive, and he’s struck out a ton of batters, but it’s easy to understand why people are skeptical at this stage, when we’ve mostly only seen him struggle in a Yankees’ uniform.

Whether you voted in the poll or not, who of those three do you think will have the best 2026 and why?

These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza cleared up any confusion Saturday morning, announcing the team will go with a five-man starting rotation to begin the regular season.

Freddy Peralta was already announced as the Opening Day starter against the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 26, but it was unclear the order of pitchers who will follow him. 

David Peterson will start the second game of the season on March 28 with Nolan McLean going on March 29 to round out the opening series. Clay Holmes will then take the mound on March 30 against the St. Louis Cardinals, followed by Kodai Senga in fifth game of the season on March 31. The manager also said that if Senga needs to pitch on regular rest this year, he will.

Mendoza then clarified that Sean Manaea will be used out of the bullpen and piggyback one of the starters, but did not say which game. 

"We are going to use him in a piggyback tandem, but we're not necessarily going to announce which game he's going to be pitching," Mendoza said.

Mendoza gave some more insight into what went into the decision to go with a five-man rotation over a six-man rotation, noting that plan will likely be used for two turns through the rotation.

"Six guys throwing the ball really well," Mendoza said. "And we were pretty honest with all of them at the beginning of camp. If everyone was healthy, we were going to have to make some tough decisions and one of them were going to be pitching in that type of role. 

"The way we see it is, he's taking that turn right now, probably two times through the rotation because of the schedule and the off days, we don't feel like we need that sixth starter yet. He's going to make starts for us. Couple times through, making sure guys go through their routine. We'll revisit when we have to and maybe there's somebody else's turn at the time. But for now, that's the decision there."

Mendoza added that Manaea was "not happy" about the choice, but was "very respectful" and "understood" the move. The manager also said Manaea's velocity dip in spring training did not impact the decision.

"He's a professional and he'll be ready to go," Mendoza said.

Manaea later spoke with reporters after the announcement, saying he is ready to step up in the different role. The left-hander also said he's built up to 60 pitches and is hoping to reach 65-70 pitches next game (Monday in an intrasquad scrimmage).

"For me, I just want to go out and pitch and help this team win. Whatever capacity that is, I know I'm going to be the best at that," Manaea said.

He added: "I consider myself a starter. To not be that is frustrating. At the end of the day, I'm just going to let my pitching do the work, whatever capacity that is, and we'll go from there."

Carlos Mendoza announces the Mets' rotation to begin the season

🔸 Thursday, March 26 : Freddy Peralta
🔸 Saturday, March 28: David Peterson
🔸 Sunday, March 29: Nolan McLean
🔸 Monday, March 30: Clay Holmes
🔸 Tuesday, March 31: Kodai Senga pic.twitter.com/6HIwzCYTqe

— SNY (@SNYtv) March 21, 2026

The Mets plan to use Sean Manaea in a piggyback role to begin the season

Carlos Mendoza explains the decision: pic.twitter.com/xvzevk06Q2

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) March 21, 2026

I have a busy Saturday, in front of leaving for Japan on Sunday, so getting this together Friday night.

The Jays are in Bradenton, Florida, which is a very pretty town. But the game isn’t going to be on TV.

Also the Jays Prospect are playing the Phillies prospects in Clearwater. And this game is on Sportsnet. MLB is running these games to let us see some of the top prospect on our favorite teams. I like the idea. Apparently, the teams are using their MLB Pipeline top 30, plus others picked by their teams.

The Jays team will be players from this list:

Pitchers

Austin Cates, RHP
Javen Coleman, LHP
Daniel Guerra, RHP
Adam Macko, LHP
Landen Maroudis, RHP
Carson Messina, RHP
Nolan Perry, RHP
Grant Rogers, RHP
Gage Stanifer, RHP

Catchers

Edward Duran, C
Aaron Parker, C
Brandon Valenzuela, C

Infielders

Cutter Coffey, 3B
Josh Kasevich, SS
Sean Keys, 3B/1B
Charles McAdoo, 3B/1B
Arjun Nimmala, SS
JoJo Parker, SS
Tim Piasentin, 3B
Josh Rivera, SS
Juan Sanchez, 3B

We have seen many of these guys in spring games this year, but I’d love to see JoJo Parker play.

In 2022, the “It’s not my Moneyball” series was created in response to the lockout imposed by the owners that disrupted Spring Training and arguably cost Clayton Kershaw a perfect game in Minneapolis (I had fun). As the season starts, the World Baseball Classic concludes, we must revive this series as trouble looms in the distance, hanging in the air, exactly in the way a brick does not.

The current consensus among MLB pundits is that the sport will slam to a grinding halt in December 2026; to which I respond: Where were you lot literally three years ago, when I pointed out the clear writing on the wall?

At the risk of asking the owners how many times they need to learn this lesson, I am not generally in the business of making predictions, but I will venture out on a limb and make a prediction today:

The owners are going to lock out the players (again) in December 2026 when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

[emphasis as in original.]

The following point needs to be repeated loudly because most owners are counting on everyone in the media and the fans to ignore the following immutable truth: there is absolutely no reason for a lockout to occur; if the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) were to expire, the players and owners could proceed under the current system until a deal for a new CBA is struck. The only reason owners impose a lockout is to pressure the Players’ Union into accepting a salary cap, which the Union is hellbent on rejecting.

Admittedly, I was wrong about who the “culprits” of the impending lockout would be, but my reasoning was generally sound, even if the owners were trying to act as if they were doing something while doing nothing. The owners have stopped playing around with optics and faux committees.

Back in 2023, the baseball world quivered in fear of Steve Cohen bullying the league with his seemingly limitless financial resources for the Mets, and looked at the efforts of Peter Seidler doing his best Mike Ilitch (Mr. I) of the Detroit Tigers impersonation as Exhibit B of why the sport would grind to a screeching halt in December 2026.

The fears were misguided as the Mets continued to find entertaining ways to set money on fire, and like Mr. I, Peter Seidler passed away all too soon, leaving a wake of family trauma, which rippled outwards to the organization and is only now reaching a conclusion.

A juggernaut did arise on the horizon, but it was not the (LOL)Mets, but our very own Los Angeles Dodgers.

If anything, if you want a starting point to the villain arc (apart from the league’s failure to punish the 2017 Houston Astros for cheating — just a piece of metal, huh? — and the 2023 Arizona Diamondbacks whipping the mostly-busted 2023 Dodgers out of the playoffs), one need only look at the Dodgers after one particular signing: Shohei Ohtani in the 2023 offseason.

Lest anyone forget, Ohtani devised the structure of his massively deferred deal and presented it to the Dodgers (who clearly accepted), the San Francisco Giants (who probably should have offered more money), the Toronto Blue Jays (it is a sore subject still), and the Anaheim Angels (who declined).

Far too many people forget that Ohtani proposed the structure, likely in part because on a team with eventual-first ballot Hall of Famer Mike Trout, the closest the Angels could get to the playoffs was buying a ticket to see it with the rest of the hoi polloi.

The Dodgers largely operated with a standard deviation in spending during the first part of the current CBA until Ohtani. However, when presented with the opportunity to win with a unicorn like Ohtani, one would be an absolute fool not to try to leverage both the maximum results on the balance sheet and in the trophy room.

Unlike the Angels, the Dodgers read the room, read their hand, and shoved their chips into the middle.

• 2022 – $293,330,382, including $32.4 million luxury tax bill
• 2023 – $268,198,867, including $19.4 million luxury tax bill
• 2024 – $353,015,360, including $103 million luxury tax bill
• 2025 – $417,341,608, including $169.4 million luxury tax bill
• 2026 – $538.7 million, including ~$142.6 million luxury tax bill (projected)

Half a billion dollars on a team’s payroll is the fever dream of those playing MLB: The Show. In essence, the argument about the Dodgers is really three parts of the same conversation, which will be separated below:

The Dodgers have more revenue than anyone in baseball; therefore, the season is over before the first pitch is thrown! And thus baseball needs to have a lockout in 2027 to stop the madness!

Half of the above statement is true and an ironclad fact, which we shall break down and examine over the next two essays.

Living that Scrooge McDuck Life — for better and worse

Detractors are correct: the Dodgers are lapping everyone in revenue, based on what we publicly know.

Having the biggest revenue deal in baseball (in part due to the incompetence of MLB’s other owners), leading baseball in home and road attendance every year since the pandemic, and having a generational international superstar who is a cross between Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth, worthy of a documentary that basically ignores him, will do that.

No one can credibly argue that the Dodgers do not lead baseball in raking in the money. One need only look at “probable Law and Order”-extra Kyle Tucker and the literal king’s ransom he will be paid over at least the next two seasons. So goes the cry before the impending lockout: the Dodgers broke baseball through wanton spending, and no other team has a chance to compete. In fact, reporters like Jeff Passan are starting to carry water for this position.

Along these lines, the Dodgers’ recent financial success is why players like Max Muncy, Enrique Hernandez, and Evan Phillips get to enjoy reunions, and where players like Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger (with justification!) were shown the door. When you have built a sponsorship engine that literally is equal to half of the league, when you have built a franchise that likely brought in a billion dollars in annual revenue, a team can flex its financial muscle and avoid saying farewell to veterans who might have been allowed to leave before the Ohtani Age.

Not setting $102 million on fire for a signing that never made an iota of sense, even with the benefit of hindsight, causes positive dividends in the future? Who knew! The team is thought to be the first MLB team to bring in a billion dollars in annual revenue, even going so far as to sell naming rights to the field that no one other than Joe Davis, Stephen Nelson, et al. will ever use.

Yes, the Dodgers have arguably perfected an imperfect system, much to the annoyance of the 29 other fanbases. Yes, the Dodgers are the first repeat champions in 25 years. But it’s not as if the team has slapped the league with impunity over the past 24 months.

• The San Diego Padres led the best-of-five 2024 National League Division Series, two games to one (which some goober predicted that the Padres would win), before literally getting shut out for the rest of the year.
• The 2024 Dodgers’ playoff rotation included “rookie” Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jack Flaherty (who literally alternated from good and bad between starts), Walker Buehler (who was awful in 2024), and Landon Knack (bar trivia personified)
• Tommy Edman (’24 NLCS) and Freddie Freeman (‘24 WS) had the literal series of their lives to drag themselves to glory.
• The ‘24 New York Yankees managed to outmanage themselves (Game 1) and blow their legs off in historic fashion (Game 5) to ensure the Dodgers’ first full-season title since 1988.
• Orion Kerkering. That’s the bullet point. (Seriously, though, the Philadelphia Phillies were pretty good in 2025.)
• The ‘25 Dodgers were outhit and outpitched as a whole by the Toronto Blue Jays, who managed to outmanage themselves (Game 3) and outrun themselves (Game 6 and Game 7) to blow a 3-2 series lead at home in the World Series.
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto — bane of Toronto, bane of Canada, performing feats not seen since sports photographer Randy Johnson played baseball.

If any one of these bullet points zigs instead of zags, the Dodgers are not the kings of the league. Dave Roberts would not be a surefire lock for induction in Cooperstown, etc., etc. Lex Pryor of The Ringerpublished an essay that largely covers these financial points from the position of a scold, rather than my position as a Dodgers fan and writer.

The Dodgers are not interested in winning 120 games in the regular season, only to lay an egg in the Division Series. They took that terrible route in 2022, which was arguably the last time that the Padres were relevant. Even in situations where things are relatively equal (say, the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes), the Dodgers still prevailed over the league. The Dodgers won 93 games in 2025, good enough for the three-seed, and, as a bonus, just about everyone was in peak form.

Did those facts stop the offense from being largely absent after the Wild Card round? Not really, but from the way people carry on, one would have thought the Dodgers went 13-0 rather than being pushed to the brink against the Blue Jays. If the Dodgers romp to 120 victories (they won’t) and sweep the postseason (inshallah), I will revisit whether the payroll disparity is truly bad for baseball.

What baseball does have in spades right now is a perception problem, one that threatens to engulf the sport in quick order.

The Party is likely over this December

Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer aptly summarized the state of things in MLB:

Are the Dodgers bad for baseball? Maybe. More accurately, though, they’re becoming a bad look for baseball. And they don’t seem to care what they look like, as long as they win.

The sport is having a renaissance with steady upticks in attendance and ratings. Game 7 of the 2025 World Series was the most-watched baseball game in over 30 years, drawing in about 24.3 million viewers in the United States and Canada. When Japan is included, that figure rises to 51 million viewers.

In contrast, the 2026 World Baseball Classic Final drew 10.784 million viewers, a record for the tournament but still barely a fifth of what Game 7 pulled in. Baseball should be basking in this era of success, but, like an illness that has been ignored for too long, things are less than 260 days away from slamming to a dead halt.

Like a dog that catches a chased car, nothing good will come from the perception that the Dodgers somehow broke baseball. It takes eight owners to scuttle a deal, and I see at least a dozen owners would rather burn the sport to the ground in the name of short-term thinking rather than refine the system that currently exists.

Accordingly, ownership is on the precipice of unleashing a Pandora’s Box of self-inflicted harm and stupidity by catering to the perception of inequality rather than the roots of inequality. I would encourage everyone to savor every last drop of the 2026 season, because while colleagues like Eric Stephen believe that no games will be lost in 2027, I do not share their optimism.

The stupidity and greed run thick, and I would genuinely be shocked if we get even half of a season next year. I have not lost a single case or a single night’s sleep by underestimating people’s greed and stupidity. Next essay, we introduce the twelve franchises that will likely run the sport aground in nine months’ time. I would dearly love to be wrong, but after all, it’s not my money(ball).

Diamondbacks News

Soroka Sharp Against Sox
Michael Soroka looked to be in mid-season form in his final spring outing. The bounce back candidate had a strong outing against the lowly White Sox as he made his case for a place in the rotation.

Diamondbacks Game Pushed Back
At this point, it is mostly a reminder that all mid-day Cactus League games have been rescheduled due to the continuing heat wave hammering the Valley.

Gallen Discusses Final Start of Spring
Zac Gallen’s Friday start was the last outing he will have before the games start to count. The next time he takes the bump will be against Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers in the season opener.

As Opening Day Looms Bullpen, Closer Questions Remain
It is hard not to believe that this winter’s drastic jump in the cost of pitching did not play a major factor in the roster that Mike Hazen wound up with. Paul Sewald continues to make fans nervous.

Eduardo Rodriguez Returns
Eduardo Rodriguez has returned from the Diamondbacks after leading his home nation of Venezuela to the WBC crown.

Other Baseball News

Padres Select Walker Buehler
The former Dodgers ace has managed to earn himself another chance to see if there is anything left in the tank after multiple Tommy John surgeries.

Marcelo Mayer Named Red Sox Starting Second Baseman
In what has been pretty much a foregone conclusion for a few weeks now, Marcelo Mayer has been named by the Red Sox as their Opening Day starter at second base.

Buster Olney’s Takeaways from Spring Training
No big surprises here, though some interesting predictions.

Andrew Painter Makes Phillies’ Rotation
The 6’7” right-handed Painter will break camp as a member of the Philadelphia rotation. The young man turns 24 on 10 April.