The Mets’ free-agent shopping list, at least in this prediction, comes with a few moving parts.
SNY’s John Harper sees New York making a major offseason push, but not by landing Tarik Skubal. In his scenario, the Mets come away with Clay Holmes and Michael King instead, and then add Teruaki Sato as well.
That part alone would give the Mets a strong winter. The bigger wrinkle is where Sato would actually play.
Harper’s prediction does not have him locked into first base, even though that’s the spot many would assume he’d fill. Sato has spent most of his career at third base, and the idea of shifting him across the diamond is not exactly clean given the Mets’ issues last season with non-first basemen handling the position.
Still, the bat is the draw, and Harper pointed to a possible fallback plan if the Mets need one. As he wrote, “Sato has mostly been a third baseman who would presumably be asked to move to first base, and after all the problems the Mets had playing non-first basemen at the position last year, it's not a perfect fit. But his bat is worth the gamble, with a safety net of sorts in the possibility of Bo Bichette moving to first if necessary.”
That’s where the conversation gets interesting. Bichette at first base may sound unconventional, but the defensive profile gives it at least some logic. His arm was a weak spot, with a 35th percentile ranking this past season, though he still finished with solid overall defensive numbers and was worth 1 OAA at third base.
The real question for the Mets would be which player fits better at third. They’ve already invested work into Bichette, so sliding him over would not be a small decision. But if it makes the roster better, it becomes a conversation worth having.
Sato’s arm is considered strong, and Harper noted that it could even make some teams think about him in the outfield. He has logged more than 250 games there in Japan, though the Mets would not be looking at him for that role. The Phillies have reportedly been mentioned as a possible team that could use him in right field.
Whichever way the Mets sort it out, the ripple effects are the same. Jared Young would see his role shrink, and somebody would still have to learn first base without any real experience there. The alignment could also change later if needed.
If Bichette ends up at first and Sato at third, the Mets could always switch them back. There’s nothing in the rules preventing that.
Even so, if Sato is coming on a long-term deal, the cleaner path may be to start him at first base and treat that as the long-range answer. The Mets appear to have future options at third base, but not much settled at first. Bichette, by Harper’s projection, would be around for no more than two years, which makes him a more temporary fit at the hot corner.
Unless the Mets are planning to move Juan Soto to first base anytime soon, the position still needs a real solution. And if Harper’s prediction comes true, that search could get interesting fast.
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