Mets Moving On From Pete Alonso (They Have to)
It appears that Pete Alonso’s days in a Mets uniform are indeed over.
While the 30-year old first baseman has not signed a contract with any team, he remains a free agent, the Mets have been unable to come to terms on a long term deal with the slugger; both sides reportedly “far apart” in contract talks that stretch back as far as June of 2023.
Back in 2023, before hiring Scott Boras as his agent, Alonso turned down a lucrative, seven-year $158 million deal from the Mets, in hopes of cashing in big in free agency.
That hasn’t worked at all for Alonso. The first base market never developed this winter. Paul Goldschmidt got a short term deal with the Yankees; Christian Walker a three-year deal in Houston; Carlos Santana got a one-year deal to return to Cleveland. Josh Bell got a one-year deal with Washington.
If Alonso was hoping for someone to cash in on a $25 million a year contract, he was greatly mistaken. At the same time suitors are shrinking as well.
That’s why it seemed possible that a Mets-Alonso reunion could happen. It never did.
According to Jon Heyman the Mets offered a three-year, $70 million deal, or roughly $23 million a year, that was rejected by Alonso. This came days after Alonso’s camp had come to the Mets with a three-year, high average deal with opt outs, meaning that if Alonso played well, he could opt out after a year. The Mets of course didn’t want that, hence the straight up three-year offer.
In the end the Mets could feel the clock for the start of Spring Training ticking away, and asked Alonso and his crew to make a decision.
Now New York is expected to pivot.
The Mets have been linked to a potential trade for Blue Jays slugger Vlad Guerrero Jr., but there is no telling if Toronto is willing to part ways with the free-agent to be just yet. You see there is speculation that the Jays might be in on the Alonso sweepstakes themselves, and might want to pair Alonso and Guerrero in the lineup for a year.
Guerrero Jr. would be an improvement over Alonso in many ways.
While he is a lumbering 245 pounds, Guerrero is only 25 years old, and hit .323 last year for Toronto. He saw his strikeouts dip each of the past two years, and has been a 30+ home run guy each of the last four years.
Not to mention he has a .991 fielding percentage at first base, and can play third too.
Alonso has seen his skill-set decline the past couple of years. He had his worst RBI year of his career in 2024, driving in only 88 runs, and his strikeout rate has been skyrocketing every year since 2021. Last season Alonso struck out 172 times (which isn’t even his career high). He also hit only .217 in 2023, and .240 last year.
While Alonso is a good first baseman, he’s not as fleet a foot as Guerrero is.
Still he’s a home grown Met, and had a postseason to remember last year. His homer against Milwaukee in the wild card round will be a memory that lasts forever. However, the Mets are taking a long rang approach on a hitter who appears on the decline at 30.
Obviously acquiring Guerrero now would be a pipe dream. The Mets would have to be willing to give up a lot, and they would need to get Guerrero to agree to a long term deal, something the Yankees failed to do with Juan Soto.
Instead the Mets might have to paste it together and hope for the best. Moving Mark Vientos to first is now an option. Brett Baty at third base now comes into play too. They could go out and sign slugger Anthony Santandar — who knows? Or, they could opt to trade for San Diego slugger Luis Arraez? Again it depends on the package.
Fans might blame owner Steve Cohen for not getting it done, but this is also on Alonso. The Mets made every pitch they could to bring him back at market value. In the end credit the Mets for not going overboard and staying focused on the future.
