Upside

[Centerfield]

I'm still a little down about the winter makeover. I'll miss Alonso, Nimmo, Diaz and McNeil. So let's have a positive thread that will cheer us up. Let's ignore the fact that our lineup has all sorts of question marks, up and down the lineup. We'll ignore the fact that hitters 5-9 in our lineup can all put up a .650 OPS. That's not the focus of this thread.

In this thread, we'll examine upside. And why this lineup has the chance to go down as the best in Mets history.

Let's assume we're good with 1-4. Lindor, Soto, Bichette and Polanco are all coming off strong years. Assuming health (kind of a big assumption with Polanco), these four should be fine.

#5. Our #5 hitter is Francisco Alvarez. His overall numbers were decent last year. .787 OPS, 11 HR. But he was a different hitter at the end of last year than the beginning. Second half Alvarez had a .921 OPS with 8 HR. By month, 1.042 in July, 1.059 in August, and he put up a .784 OPS in September playing with five broken hands. Eric Chavez is gone. OPS above .900 season is incoming. 20+ HR in his sleep.

#6. Brett Baty. Again, respectable overall numbers. .748 OPS overall. 18 HR. Second half Baty put up an .829 OPS. An .829 OPS and 20+ HRs from the 6 spot is not bad.

#7. Mark Vientos. Mark had a down year in 2025 with a .702 OPS. But even in that down year, he still hit 17 HR. He's a year removed from an .827 OPS, 27 HR. I think we're looking at a bounceback year with 30+ HRs from our 7th place hitter.

#8. Luis Robert Jr. Last two years haven't been kind to LuBob. But if you go back to 2023, he had an .857 OPS, 38 HR, 20 SB, good for 5.3 WAR. He's only 28 years old. I see big things ahead for our centerfielder. .800+ OPS, 30+ HR.

#9. Marcus Semien. So this might be the biggest stretch. The other four guys are young. There's no reason we can't get the best of them still. Semien is tougher, he's 35 years old and 2 years removed from his last good season. But maybe he gets invigorated from moving out of Globe Life, a terrible park for hitters. His OPS in away games was .718. And he hit twice as many HR on the road (10) as he did at home (5). We get him away from his toxic relationship with Cory Seager, get him into a better hitting environment, and he responds with a .750 OPS, 20+ HR.

And if any of these guys falter, we have Carson Benge and Ronny Mauricio waiting to break out. The Mets offense is going to be unstoppable in 2026.

[The Hot Corner]

If Polanco can be near average at first base, then the defense should be improved. I expect Bichette to be at least league average at thrd base. Which would be a vast improvement over Vientos and as good or possibly a little better than Baty. Robert is still a very good defensive center fielder. Left field will be interesting part of the new defensive alignment, but like Alonso at first base, Nimmo was far below average defensively and had an absolute rag arm. Benge would, by all reports, would be a vast improvement over Nimmo. Baty, should he be in LF has the athleticism to be adequate which also would be a big improvement. Should Baty spend some time at first base, I expect he would be better than Alonso.

So there she be improved defensively over what we trotted out most days last season.

[Gwreck]

So there she be improved defensively over what we trotted out most days last season.

 

Plus also Marcus Semien! If that guy brings nothing else, gold glove-caliber defense on the Mets is something we haven’t seen a lot of recently.

[Fman99]

I think this is the year that Alvarez, Vientos and Baty all show that a single good year, or stretch of months, isn't just a fluke in each case. Because I'm optimistic. I also drink a decent amount, that helps

[Edgy MD]

I had Nimmo down as meh on defensive runs saved.

He continued to wax and wane on the health of his feet, but most days he wasn't falling down out there. Defensive Bible had him as +4 in Defensive Runs Saved, and that's at least above water.

I think Torrens led the team with 11 DRS.

[DocTee]

I've soured alot on Alvarez. This is a make-or-break year for him in my estimation. I'm not holding out hope.

And again, for all the talk about improving the team defense, having three guys (Polanco, Bichette, and Baty?) potentially play new positions on opening day does not inspire me.

[The Hot Corner]

So there she be improved defensively over what we trotted out most days last season.

 

Plus also Marcus Semien! If that guy brings nothing else, gold glove-caliber defense on the Mets is something we haven’t seen a lot of recently.

 

Oops! I did not mean to overlook Semien. He should provide stellar defense at second base. He and Lindor should give the Mets a very good double-play combo.

It is said that teams need to be defensively strong up the middle. With Lindor, Semien, Robert, and Alvarez/Torrens the Mets should be very solid defensively up the middle (particularly when Torrens is behind the plate.

With Taylor as the 4th outfielder, he can cover left field, in late innings to further solidify the defense when protecting a lead.

[Lefty Specialist]

Considering Stearns wanted a defense-forward team, 3 players (Bichette/Baty/Polanco) will be playing positions they have never or barely ever played. That's concerning.

I admire the optimism. Wish I could share it.

[Edgy MD]

Well, as noted above in the Athletic article — apart from Polanco at first being a downshift on the defensive spectrum, as he is sliding from middle infield to first — if the does not adapt to first, they can slip him to DH and use the more-experienced-at-first Vientos or the more-in-his-athletic-prime Baty over there with some regularity. They can even make the swapout before opening day.

The presence of a DH makes defense at first even less of a worry than it had previously been through history. The only time you need to worry about first base defense is when the guy's defense is so bad but his offense is so key to the lineup that you can't take him out, but your DH is also a key lineup cog with worse defense.

Then you are behind the eight ball.

I am most curious about the guy on the corners who isn't out of position — Soto.