Bo Bichette’s transformation into a third baseman is already underway.
The former shortstop, who recently arrived to the Mets on a three-year contract worth $126 million, worked out in front of manager Carlos Mendoza on Monday in Port St. Lucie, Fla., three weeks before position players are due to report to spring training.
The early reviews were positive, Mendoza told Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman on “The Show” podcast.
“He’s an athlete,” Mendoza said. “We’re looking at a guy that has played shortstop pretty much his whole career. And just watching him today, moving around third base, taking ground balls, creating angles and then the throws to first base, I was telling him, ‘It looks like you played there before.’ ”
Bichette, who played in the 2025 World Series with the Blue Jays, isn’t the only Mets player learning a new position: The team also signed Jorge Polanco to a two-year contract worth $40 million to move to first base, a position that became open after Pete Alonso accepted a five-year deal worth $155 million with the Orioles.
Polanco has only one career appearance at first base. Brett Baty (displaced at third with Bichette’s signing) and Mark Vientos also figure into the equation at first base.
“[Polanco] is a guy that came up as a shortstop, playing in the middle of the diamond,” Mendoza said. “He moves around as well and the same thing with Baty and Vientos, guys who have got some experience there. But I feel like it’s going to take some time getting used to some game action.”
Mendoza was also asked about team chemistry — The Post reported in November that Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto had a frosty relationship. Soto last year was in his first season in Queens after signing a record $765 million contract.
“It’s two very different guys,” Mendoza said. “Soto is very businesslike. He’s a guy that comes in, he’s going through his process. Lindor is more outgoing, like what you see on the field — the big smile. And that guy, whether we win or lose, is going to be the same guy. He cares. Obviously, they both care. And I feel like because of who they are individually, it’s a relationship that they care about winning. They care about each other. They care about their teammates. But they’re two different personalities.”
Mendoza will have a new arm atop his rotation following the trade last week that brought Freddy Peralta from the Brewers for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat.
“We all know the type of arm, the type of pitcher that [Peralta] is, a guy that’s pitching at the front of the rotation,” Mendoza said. “But as soon as we acquired him, I got on the phone with a lot of people that have been around him, and everybody keeps telling me he’s the quality of the person, how good of a human being he is and how much he cares about his teammates, about people. And that was one of the things that he mentioned to me when I got on the phone with him. It’s like, ‘I’m planning on reporting early to Port St. Lucie so I can start meeting a lot of the new faces.’ That goes to show you the type of guy he is.”
Mendoza was spared amid a coaching staff shake-up following the nosedive that kept the Mets from reaching the playoffs last season. He will be entering the final year of his contract.
“I have a great opportunity in front of me,” Mendoza said. “You get an owner that is willing to put all the resources in order to accomplish the ultimate goal. And you have a front office that continues to make moves to continue to improve our roster. And now it’s up to us, you know, and me as the manager in this situation is a great opportunity. I know where I stand.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
