The Mets Have a Tough Problem to Solve With Jorge Polanco's 2027 Role

2026 has been a lost season for Jorge Polanco due to various injuries, meaning he isn't an easy player to figure out what to do with in 2027.

Jorge Polanco has struggled mightily for the Mets in 2026 after battling injuries. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As the 2026 season winds down for the Mets, they are likely to use their remaining games to assess what they need to do to avoid another lost year in 2027. While players like Carson Benge have solidified themselves as key pieces of the solution, others like Jorge Polanco have raised nothing but questions.

The Mets signed Polanco over the winter with the idea that he would be the primary first baseman while helping to replace Pete Alonso's power production in aggregate with Mark Vientos. While Vientos drew the ire of fans for being essentially unplayable for most of the year, Polanco hasn't helped much either due to injury.

Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns didn't appear to put much weight on Polanco's injury history entering the season, and it backfired as Polanco strained his Achilles tendon in early April. That injury forced him to exclusively designated hitter, leaving a hole at first base, and the situation got worse as Polanco tried to play through an injury that sapped his power and speed.

After the Mets finally put Polanco on the injured list in mid-April, it took him months to get back, as he kept experiencing issues with his Achilles. Polanco came back in mid-July and hasn't done much of anything offensively since then, collecting just seven hits in 68 at-bats (a .102 batting average) with one home run, three RBIs and 22 strikeouts.

Why the Mets can't count on Jorge Polanco as an everyday factor in 2027

Two of Stearns's biggest misfires in the offseason came with assuming that Marcus Semien and Polanco could be lineup anchors to help replace Jeff McNeil and Alonso, respectively. It is clear that Polanco's Achilles has been a major issue that the Mets likely exacerbated by having him play through it for a few weeks, and those injuries can take a long time to properly heal.

Jorge Polanco's run-in with injuries is a big reason why the Mets can't rely on him every day. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The problem the Mets are going to run into here is that Polanco is due another $20 million next season and Stearns is unlikely to want to cut bait on him after one season. The injuries Polanco suffered forced the Mets into an untenable situation at first base, making an already questionable decision to play him at a position he barely knew look even worse.

Counting on Polanco to play first base again would be the definition of insanity, so expect the team to explore its options there in the offseason. The fact that Polanco has experience as a middle infielder could make him a nice utility piece who could get reps at the other infield spots in addition to DH, but that strategy would depend entirely on seeing Polanco show up to spring training (whenever it starts next season after a potential lockout) fully healthy.

The returns have gotten so bad for Polanco that the Mets may want to consider shutting him down to fully treat the Achilles issues that have plagued him in hopes of getting some value out of him in 2027. Running Polanco out every few days in a lost season isn't helping him or the Mets right now, so the best course of action would be to simply work on getting him fully healthy and aim towards being the primary DH in 2027.

A DH role would generally keep Polanco healthier and could open up options for them to use him in the field on select occasions, giving the Mets the best chance to get value from Polanco in 2027. What they're doing now clearly isn't working, so perhaps it's time to admit defeat on Polanco this season.

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