After sitting through the Winter Meetings and watching Pete Alonso land in Baltimore and Edwin Díaz head to Los Angeles, the Mets are running out of time to answer the question everyone keeps asking: What’s the plan?

Well, there’s still plenty of uncertainty about how the Mets are supposed to rebuild what’s now a pretty gutted core, and replacing Alonso is no small task. Yes, they signed Jorge Polanco, but he’s much more comfortable at second base. And even if you slide him over to first, he’s clearly not meant to replace Alonso’s production or presence.

So, now the offseason is winding down, and Mets fans are still waiting for David Stearns to make a real move. And the big question becomes: who’s actually going to play first base for the Mets? Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

“We’ve highlighted the top remaining free agents and trade targets at every position to serve as a snapshot of what’s left of the offseason market.” Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter shared the options for the Mets to go for.

Japanese connection for the Mets

We’ve already seen what Shohei Ohtani has done. So it’s safe to say Japanese sluggers can absolutely translate at the MLB level. With that in mind, Kazuma Okamoto stands out as a really intriguing first-base option for the Mets!

Okamoto has reportedly been in talks with multiple MLB teams ahead of his January 4 deadline, so why shouldn’t the Mets take a shot? And he comes with serious power, including six straight seasons of 30-plus home runs and a career-best 41 bombs in 2023! He also showed off on the international stage, going 6-for-18 with two homers in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Now, that’s exactly the kind of power the Mets are missing in a post-Alonso world. And in the fact that he’s a two-time NPB Gold Glove winner, it’s hard to see much downside here. If the Mets are looking for a legitimate bat at first base, Okamoto feels like a gamble worth taking.

Padres’ drop-out could be a valuable addition

So, are the Mets willing to trade some batting average and OPS+ for fewer strikeouts? They punched out 1,325 times in 2025, and there’s no question they’d love to rein that in. That’s where Luis Arraez enters the conversation!

For reference, Arraez just posted career lows in April with a .292 batting average and a 99 OPS+. But at the same time, he did something almost unheard of in today’s game: he struck out just 3.5% of the time! That’s the lowest strikeout rate over a full season since Tony Gwynn’s ridiculous 2.6% back in 1995.

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Sure, Arraez doesn’t come close to matching Alonso’s raw power, but he brings better security at the batter’s box. He puts the ball in play, lengthens at-bats, and helps stabilize the order. Add in his low error rate in the field, and suddenly you’re talking about a player who improves both contact and defense.

So, if the Mets are serious about balance and lineup control, Arraez could be the smart solution.

The Red Sox’s loss could be the Mets’ gain

Hitting just 3 HRs with a .182 average obviously isn’t going to turn heads, but there’s more to the story with Triston Casas. Since 2023, he’s actually led the Red Sox in walks (70), on-base percentage (.367), and OPS (.856), which says a lot about his approach at the plate, even as his power numbers dipped.

A knee injury pretty much wrecked his 2025 season, but that alone shouldn’t scare David Stearns off. Especially now that Boston may have pushed him to the side after bringing in Willson Contreras, Casas could realistically be available. Defensively, he’s posted minus-9 defensive runs saved over 1,921 career innings at first base, but that’s a risk the Mets might be willing to take.

Hence, looking ahead to 2026, Casas feels like a buy-low candidate. He’s not a direct replacement for Alonso, and none of these options really are, but given how quiet the Mets’ offseason has been, a move like this wouldn’t be surprising at all.

The clock is ticking, though. Wait too long, and even these fallback options could be gone.