Mets are practically trolling the Mariners with Jorge Polanco first base hype

The Seattle Mariners must be feeling pretty good with themselves, after securing the services of Brendan Donovan and ending their offseason in style. They now have a legitimately dangerous lineup which will (at least theoretically) become even more deadly once Colt Emerson is ready to make his Major League debut.

However, as is often the case in professional sports, there's always a New York team which believes they are bigger, stronger and just overall better. And on this occasion it's the New York Mets, who've admittedly had an impressive winter after bringing in the likes of Marcus Semien, Bo Bichette and Freddy Peralta.

Another key offseason acquisition by the Mets was one Jorge Polanco, who actually had a preference to return to Seattle. In the end though, he just couldn't say no to the two-year, $40 million deal he was offered to move to New York.

Mets buying glory instead of putting the work in

Now, the Mets are trolling the Mariners with regards to Polanco, or at least it sure seems that way. New York Post sports columnist and MLB Network insider Joel Sherman reports that New York's 'other' baseball team believes the 2019 All-Star will be a better first baseman than Pete Alonso, despite have never played the position in the majors.

This is effectively a case of the Mets taking advantage of the hard work the Mariners put in with Polanco last season, spending more than two months working him out at first base several times before games. The Athletic's Will Sammon went into detail back in December, explaining how the 32-year-old spent time with M's infield coach Perry Hill and bench coach Manny Acta, among others, learning the intricacies of the position.

It didn't matter once the Mariners acquired Josh Naylor to play first base, with Polanco remaining at second base. However, it's now the Mets who stand to benefit without putting any of the effort in for him to move to the other hot corner, to add salt to the wound after having already stolen him from the M's.

Jorge Polanco over Pete Alonso at 1st base not saying much

The thing is though, saying Polanco is going to be a better defensive first baseman than Alonso isn't that much of a brag when you consider just how poor the latter was in New York. While there's no denying the offensive prowess of the five-time All-Star, his fielding range, arm strength and Defensive Runs Saved are among the very worst at the position.

In other words, it's not really that hard for Polanco to be better despite having never played a single inning at first base in the majors. If anything, this is more a damning indictment on just how bad Alonso was at manning a position widely considered to be the easiest defensively in baseball.

Ultimately, while Mariners fans would have been more than happy to see Polanco back in Seattle, the team is going to be just fine moving forward. They are set at first base for the next five years with Naylor while Donovan represents an upgrade on him at second base. So have fun, Mets. [New York salute.]