Nobody said it's going to be perfect, but the New York Mets are going to give it a go.
After signing Bo Bichette on Friday, the New York Post's Jon Heyman reported that the plan is for the former Toronto Blue Jays All-Star to play third base. Francisco Lindor will remain at shortstop, and Marcus Semien's spot at second is secure, for now.
Jorge Polanco will play first base, a position he's never appeared at in his 12-year Major League career. Who's never played third base in his seven-year career? You guessed it.
"Just want to make sure I got this: The team accentuating 'run prevention' will play a guy (Polanco) at 1B who has no MLB innings there and another at 3B (Bichette) with no MLB innings there," the New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote on X on Friday.
Bichette is an imperfect defensive player
One of the main reasons the Mets decided to make the trade with the Texas Rangers for Semien was to improve their infield defense. Semien grades out well defensively, but Bichette and Polanco do not.
One of Bichette's persistent issues at shortstop was an inability to consistently make accurate throws to first base on fielded ground balls. Realistically speaking, the task to improve in that area should only get harder as he moves to the hot corner.
New York could now explore a trade involving any one of their young infielders: Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and Mark Vientos are possible candidates.
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